4 Years of High School
by HowRude73
Summary: Jane is suddenly without a best friend but seeks comfort in her new lab partner. Before they know it they are best friends, but suddenly Jane realizes she might have feelings for Maura.
1. The First Day

My second try to write a fanfic. This one is about Jane and Maura in high school. Of course Rizzles, but you might have to wait a little bit. Hope you enjoy and leave me some reviews. Good or bad, I need them!

**Chapter 1 - The first day**

Jane was a little bit nervous when she woke up. She was about to start her first day at high school. Her best friend Emily had spent her whole summer with her grandparents in a small town in Iowa called Eldon, so Jane hadn't seen her since their last day of Junior High. She was so glad her best friend would be there with her, because she was not ready to face it alone.

Jane lived close to the school. It only took her about two minutes to walk, so Emily usually stopped by at Jane's house and they walked together. Jane's mom had baked her cookies and made her a sandwich that Jane put in her bag. Then she waited by the door for Emily.

"She's here." Jane said excited and ran out the door. "Wow."

"Wow what?"

"You've got, uhm…"

"Boobs? I know!"

"How?"

"I don't know, they just grew bigger over the summer."

Jane looked down only to see her flat chest which made her feel a bit sad.

"Don't worry. Yours will grow soon. Now come on. We can't be late on our first day" Emily said, grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her away. "What did you do this summer?"

"My family went camping for a week but basically we just stayed home the whole summer. I mostly just played softball."

"Oh Jane. It's not cool to play sports any more. Girls usually quit sports when they get to High School."

"Does that mean you're quitting the team?"

"Oh Jane, I was never that good anyway."

Jane felt confused. Why would she quit softball? It was her favorite thing to do, well, besides hockey. There was no chance she was quitting either of those sports any time soon.

When they got to school, Jane started feeling nervous again. At her old school they had been the oldest, but now they were the youngest.

"Emily? I'm nervous."

"Don't be. We'll be together the whole time."

"Promise?"

"Of course I promise silly."

That didn't sound so convincing to Jane. She wished they had gotten more time to hang out before school. Jane felt like Emily had changed over the summer.

They found their schedules and went to class. They got two seats together in the middle and felt very happy about it.

"Should we go to my house after school?"

"Sure Jane. I have so much to tell you."

The teacher walked in. She had blonde hair that she had tied up. She was wearing a skirt and a read blouse. Jane thought she looked pretty. Way prettier than all the teachers at her old school. So far, high school wasn't so bad.

She looked around to see if she knew all her classmates. She saw Debbie, Kate and Kimberly in the back. She saw Rory and Steve right next to them and then she saw Giovani, Maria and Eddie sitting next to strangers and then she saw Casey and Joey sit in the front. And Maura was sitting alone right next to the teacher.

She hated KDK or Kate, Debbie and Kimberly. They had always picked on Jane and bullied her throughout junior high. She had hoped they wouldn't be in the same class. She also hated Joey and Rory. She didn't get why Steve and Casey hung out with them. They who were so nice. Jane actually liked Steve, but he and the rest of the guys always just saw her as one of the guys. She couldn't wait to get boobs like Emily, and then maybe someone would finally notice her.

She looked at all the other girls and saw that they had all gotten boobs over the summer. Well except Kimberly who got hers when she was twelve.

The boys all looked so much mature and some of them were getting quite tall.

"Hey kids. My name is Ms. Erin Jacobs and I will be your English teacher."

"Hey Jane?"

"Yes?"

"I think Steve is looking at you."

"Steve? Yeah. We spent some time together this summer."

"Really. What did you do?"

"Basically just play football, softball and basketball."

"Nothing else?"

"Nah. We're just friends."

"Give it up Jane. You are so in love with him." Emily said as she elbowed Jane softly.

"Is there something you girls would like to share with the rest of us?" Ms. Jacobs asked.

"No ma'am." Jane answered quickly.

"Then you better listen."

"Yes miss." Jane said quietly and a little bit awkward.

That didn't go so well. KDK were laughing at her in the back, and she could hear them whisper. So far the day was not going so well for Jane and she couldn't wait for it to be over. High school would definitely be like junior high, or maybe even worse.

When the girls were walking out of school Rory yelled at them.

"Holy Poly Rizzoli, nice to see you again."

"I wish I could say the same."

"Whoa. Baby's got game!" He pushed her a little bit out of the way and started talking to Emily. "Anyway… Emily… I see you had a good summer."

"Uh yeah. I guess."

"I hope I will be seeing more of you soon." He left. "Bye girls."

"Ew. What a creep." Jane said.

"I don't know, I think he's changed."

"Seriously? He's still calling me Holy Poly Rizzoli even though I stopped being chubby two years ago."

"Yeah. Well. Come on. Let's go to your house." Emily said and pulled Jane away.

When they got to Jane's house, her mom greeted Emily and welcomed her back. Frankie and Tommy happened to be there and they couldn't stop looking at her chest.

"Tommy? Frankie? Her eyes are up here." Jane said hasty.

Frankie was the first one to come around. "Sorry Emily. Nice to see you." He said and walked away. Tommy on the other hand was still looking and practically drooling over her.

"Very nice." He said staring at her boobs almost hypnotized until Jane grabbed his arm and threw him into the living room.

"So sorry about that."

"I guess I have to get used to it."

"What do you mean?"

"Duh. Guys love boobs, and now I've got them." She said proud and walked up to Jane's room.

Jane felt like Emily had changed. Not just on the outside but also Jane felt like she didn't recognize her. She hadn't seen her for three months but she was positive that the Emily that left her for Iowa was not the same one that came back.

"So what did you do this summer?"

"A lot of stuff. I kissed a boy."

"No way!"

"Yes I did."

"What's his name? Why did you kiss him?"

"His name is Daniel and I kissed him because I liked him. He is super-hot. Where's your computer, I'll find him on Facebook and show you his picture."

"Wow. You kissed a boy and got boobs. Anything else?"

"Well… I don't know." Jane got her laptop and handed it to Emily. "Thanks Jane. Ah, Facebook. Daniel Grey."

Jane looked at his picture but she didn't really like him. He hat acne all over his face and even a little facial hair.

"Isn't he like the hottest boy you've ever seen?"

Jane didn't want to offend Emily so she decided to lie. "Wow. He is so hot."

"Well, too bad. He's mine."

"Really?"

"No I mean, we're not in a relationship or anything, I just, you know, he's my Iowa boyfriend."

"I see." Jane felt like Emily had changed a lot. She wasn't the same at all. She took a closer look and realized Emily was wearing make-up. Jane was shocked, they'd never worn make-up. They were the sporty girls of their class, they didn't need make-up, it would get all messy when they were playing softball. "Are you wearing make-up?"

"Duh." Was all Emily answered.

"Uhm… Since when do you wear make-up?"

"Since this summer silly. Girls should wear make-up. You should try it Jane." She didn't look away from the screen. She was busy chatting to Daniel.

Jane got bored just watching Emily talk to her "Iowa boyfriend" so she picked up her phone and started playing a game for a while until Emily suddenly spoke.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"Let's go to my house. I can show you all the new stuff I got in Iowa."

Jane didn't really want to go. She was sure that she'd get even more bored at her house. But if they'd go and she'd get bored she could make up an excuse to leave so she decided to say yes.

"Sure Emily. My house is boring anyway."

"Totes." She said. "Let me just say bye to Daniel."

"Okay." Jane was a little pissed. Who the hell was this girl in her bedroom? This was not the Emily Matthews that had been Jane's best friend since kindergarten… This was one of those girls Jane and Emily had despised and had promised never to become like one of them.

Emily took a long time to say goodbye to Daniel but when she had finally logged out of Facebook and closed Jane's computer, she got up and they went downstairs.

Once they were outside Jane thought they could finally talk but no, Emily just picked up her iPhone and started texting.

"Uh what are you doing?"

"Talking to Daniel. He is soooo funny."

Jane got mad but she decided not to say anything. She walked right next to Emily the whole way but they didn't say a word to each other. Emily just giggled every now and then.

When they finally got to Emily's place she put her phone in her pocket and pulled Jane into her bedroom.

"I bought so much stuff in Iowa, because grandpa said I was old enough to help him in the store and I got paid so I bought this and this…" Emily started picking up a lot of tees, dresses, jeans, jackets and all sorts of clothes that Jane didn't like.

"I bought this for you." She held up a black dress but Jane hated dresses.

"Uuuu. Thank you."

"Go on. Try it on."

Jane didn't really want to try it on but she didn't really have a say in the matter. Emily started undressing her and put the dress on Jane before she could argue.

"O-M-G! You look fab! Selfie." Emily said and took a picture of the two of them. "This is so going on Instagram."

Fab? Selfie? Since when did Emily talk like this?

"Oh Jane. I have got a ton of make-up. Please let me put some on you. Please, pretty please?"

"Uh." Emily had done her puppy eyes and the big lip so Jane knew she meant business. "Fine." She said, but was not happy about it.

Emily pulled out a chair and made Jane sit on it. She then ordered her to close her eyes. Jane did and then the brushes, sponges and all this other stuff started hitting Jane in the face. She decided to just keep her eyes close until it was finished.

Jane felt like it took hours to complete. She couldn't understand why girls did this every single day. It even felt uncomfortable and Jane really wanted to wipe it off.

"Tadaa." Emily said proudly and handed Jane a mirror.

Jane didn't recognize the girl in the mirror. She did not look pretty, she looked awful. She had a purple eye shadow, red lipstick and some pink stuff on her cheeks. Jane didn't like the sight so she started wiping it off.

"Don't do that. It took me a long time to make. You look so pretty. Selfie." She said and took another picture. Jane didn't like this but she was afraid to say anyting so she excused herself and went to the bathroom.

When she got into the bathroom she took a good look at herself in the mirror. The girl behind this make-up was not that pretty but she looked even worse with it on. Jane got mad and started wiping it off. She didn't care what Emily would say, she just wanted to go home.

She came out of the bathroom feeling sad. She had gotten all the make-up off but her face was a little red and it hurt.

"Oh no. What have you done?"

"I'm sorry Em, I'm just not used to this. But now I really have to go home. I'll see you tomorrow before school?"

"Sure. Bye Jane."

"Bye Em."

Jane walked out of Emily's room, grabbed her jacket and walked outside. She could feel tears try to burst out but there was no chance in hell she was going to cry about this. She sucked it up and walked home.

When she finally got home dinner was ready. Jane sat down at the table with her family but didn't say a word the entire meal. When she had finished eating, she excused herself from the table, went into her room and locked the door. She opened up her computer and saw that Emily had posted those two pictures on Facebook and tagged Jane on them. The one with her wearing the dress didn't look so bad. It had 13 likes but no comments. She took a look on the other one only to see over 100 likes on it and a lot of comments.

Rory: Holy Poly Rizzoli wearing make-up. Hahaha! LOL! Hilarious!

Kate: Wow! She looks even worse wearing a make-up!

Debbie: Is she playing the bride of Frankenstein?

Giovani: Hot!

Kimberly: I thought she was ugly without her make-up but this is even worse. Oh god!

Joey: LOL! frog face!

Jane couldn't read any more as tears were filling up her eyes. She sent Emily a quick message and asked her to remove the picture. Then she closed the computer, put it down and started crying.


	2. A New Lab Partner

**Chapter 2 - New lab partner**

When Jane woke up she was still wearing the same clothes she had worn yesterday. She looked at the clock and saw that she still had an hour before school. She decided to take a shower and try to wash off yesterday's problems. She found a white tank top, blue t-shirt and some jeans and then ran into the bathroom to take a shower.

The shower helped her relax and calm down. Once she had washed her face and hair she got out and took a good look at herself in the mirror. She wasn't so happy with the sight and all she heard in her head were the voices of all the mean kids. She didn't want to cry again so she decided to suck it up and not let them bother her. Only four years left.

She got out of the shower, brushed through her evil hair that refused to submit to her will. She brushed through it roughly but in the end she gave up and put it in a high ponytail. She was not happy with the sight in the mirror but this was obviously as good as it would get. She then got dressed and walked downstairs.

"Hey sweetie. Are you okay? I tried knocking on your door last night but you didn't answer." Angela said when Jane sat down.

"Oh I was just so tired that I fell asleep."

"Is everything alright?" She stopped cooking and walked to her. "You seem so quiet, you who have always got something to talk about."

"I don't know. Yesterday was just weird."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not really ma."

"Well. If you want to talk, I'm right here Janie." She brought her a plate of pancakes. "Here you go. Eat your breakfast."

"Thanks ma." Jane smiled and ate her breakfast. Her mother could be a pain in the ass sometimes but Jane knew she cared.

She finished her breakfast and waited for Emily.

When she knocked on the door, Jane gave her mum a hug good bye and ran out the door.

"Hey Jane. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. But please tell me you deleted the picture?"

"Of course I did. I'm so sorry. I really liked it. But I guess I put too much make-up on you, I'm sorry Jane."

"It's okay Em. I know you would never hurt me on purpose."

"You're right Jane. You're my best friend."

Jane smiled. Now that was more like it. Emily had gone back to normal. She hadn't mentioned Daniel so far and Jane just hoped the day would pass without the mention of his name.

They got to school and their first class was biology. They sat next to each other in the middle and waited for the new teacher to come in.

"Hello. My name is Mr. Cohen and I will be your biology teacher this semester. Please raise your hand and say yes when I call your name."

He then started calling the names of everyone in class and Jane was so relieved when she realized Kimberly and Debby were not in this class. But unfortunately, Kate still was. One is always better than three though.

"For the next two weeks you will be working in pairs." Mr Cohen said.

Jane was glad. She and Emily could work together and soon everything would go back to normal.

"I see you guys are excited about the pairings, but unfortunately I will be choosing partners for everyone."

"Oh no." Jane thought. "Please not Kate, Rory or Joey. Please Emily. Please."

"Gilberti and Korkman."

Maria and Giovani looked at each other in despise but they knew they couldn't argue. Giovani moved to Maria but stayed as far away from her as he could.

"Graham and Grant."

Joey and Rory looked at each other happy. Jane was happy as well since she wouldn't get paired with either of them.

He then paired Eddie and Steve together, Casey with some nerdy kid she didn't know, Jessica and Claire, Donna and Eileen, Victor with Barty and soon there were only four kids left without partners. Kate, Emily, Jane and Maura.

"Atkins and…"

Jane hoped and prayed it would not be her.

"…Matthews."

Oh no. Poor Emily. She would have to work with Kate for the next two weeks.

"Rizzoli and Isles."

Well. Jane was a bit bummed when she realized she wouldn't get partnered with Emily, but since she wasn't paired with anyone she hated she should be thankful.

"I'm sorry Jane."

"No I'm the one who's sorry. You'll be working with Kate." Jane said and frowned her face. "I'll move. See you after class."

"Okay Jane."

Jane moved to the empty seat next to Maura. She and Maura had been in the same school for the past three years. And in all that time, Jane had never seen her sitting next to anyone.

"Hi Maura."

"Hey Rizzoli."

"You can just call me Jane."

"Okay then. Hello Jane."

"Are you okay being paired with me?"

"Of course I am Rizz… I mean Jane."

"I promise I'll help you, you don't have to do this all by yourself."

"Thank you Jane. Let's hear what Mr. Cohen has to say about our assignment."

Jane smiled. Maura was really nice. Jane had always thought she was this spoiled brat that only associated with snobs. She looked at Emily who didn't seem to like her partner. Kate also seemed unhappy about this and she looked like she was texting.

Mr. Cohen then explained the new assignment and Jane looked forward to it. She and Maura were assigned to make a Power Point presentation about the evolution theory. They were supposed to work on the assignment in class but if that wouldn't be enough they should meet after school. He then dismissed the class and Jane ran to Emily.

"Oh god. These next two weeks are going to be awful." Emily said.

"I am so sorry Em."

"Well. You're stuck with Maura the Bore-a. I'm sorry for you too."

"Yeah." At that exact moment, Maura happened to walk past them so Jane felt bad. "Do you think she heard us?"

"Who cares? Come on. Let's go."

They went to classes and so far, the second day wasn't bad. At lunch, Jane wished she hadn't said that.

"Hey Rizzoli. Where's your make-up?" Kimberly asked.

"Make-up? I don't wear make-up to pretend to be pretty."

"You need more than just make-up to look pretty, you should wear a mask." Debbie said and the girls laughed.

"That's a great idea. Can I borrow that one?" She pointed at Debbie's face. "Oh I'm sorry, it's your face."

Emily laughed so hard and Jane pulled her away from the stunned girls who didn't have a comeback.

"Wow Jane. You finally stood up to them."

"Yeah. I figured, why not! They have no right to make my life hell."

"You're right Jane. And I'm glad you're not mad at me about the picture. I'm so sorry by the way."

"It's okay Em. I don't care what they think."

"And you shouldn't Jane.

They found an empty table and sat down just the two of them. But that didn't last long. Soon Casey and Steve joined them. Jane kept her cool because she had spent a lot of time with them during the summer and had actually grown quite fond of them, as friends of course. Emily on the other hand got all awkward and blushed.

"So Jane. Ready for the try-outs for the hockey team?" Steve asked.

"You bet. I am so gonna whip both of your asses!"

"Dream on." Casey said.

They talked about sports for a while and excluded Emily a little bit. Jane then looked at her and saw that she felt uncomfortable.

"So boys. What do you think of high school so far?"

"Eh. I don't know. The teachers we've had seem okay so far."

"Especially Erin Jacobs, the English teacher."

"Mhm."

"Seriously? Is that all you boys can think about?"

The boys looked at each other and answered at the same time.

"Yes."

"Oh gross."

"So Emily. What did you do this summer?" Steve asked her

"Who me?" Emily looked confused.

"Yes you." Steve didn't make fun of her for being so awkward. "Where did you go? What did you do?"

"I went to Iowa, I was visiting my grandparents. Spent the whole summer there."

"Cool." He took a bite of his sandwich. "Are you going to come watch the hockey try-outs?"

"I don't know. I might."

"You should come."

"I should?"

"Yeah." He smiled at her.

"Okay then. I'll come."

Jane couldn't help but feeling a little bit jealous. Steve never looked at her any other way then as one of the boys. She was about to say something when Rory and Joey suddenly came.

"Hey frog face!" Joey said and burped.

"Must you be so mean all the time Joey?" Casey asked.

"What? Frog face your girlfriend or sum?"

"No, but there's no need to call her frog face."

"If anyone should be called frog face around here it'd be you Joey." Jane said.

"Good one." Rory answered. "Where's your make-up Rizzoli?"

"Oh I left it at home. Didn't realize you wanted to borrow it. I'll remember to bring it tomorrow. Maybe Joey can help you put it on?"

Emily, Casey and Steve laughed.

"Woah Rizzoli. Didn't know you had it in you." Steve said.

"Oh there's so much more you don't know about me." She said a little flirty, picked up her plate and walked away. Emily followed her and was amazed.

"Geez. Jane, why haven't you ever done that before?"

"I don't know. But it felt so good." She smiled as she threw her trash away. "Did you see the look on their faces."

"Priceless." Emily said and followed Jane happily out of the cafeteria.

"What class do you have next?"

"Chemestry. What about you?"

"Math." Jane said with a frowny face. "I hate math."

"Yeah, because you suck at it."

"Or I suck at it because I hate it."

"Either way, good luck."

"Yeah." Jane said, not so hopefully. "See you after school?"

"Yes. I'll walk home with you. When are the try-outs?"

"Are you seriously going to come? I thought you hated hockey."

"I don't hate it. I'm just not any good at it. I don't like playing it but I don't mind watching it."

"Yeah, especially with all those hot guys."

"Do you want me to come or not?"

"Steve obviously wants you to."

"Stop it Jane. I know you like him, I would never do anything with him."

"I don't like him."

"Oh yes you do."

"I'm not gonna argue with you. Especially not here. I will see you after school?"

"Sure. Bye Jane."

"Bye."

Jane walked to math class and hoped she would have a better teacher than last year. He refused to help her and always just told her she was hopeless. No wonder she hated math.

She walked into the classroom realizing there was no Emily to sit next to. She didn't see Casey or Steve either. She saw no empty tables so she had to sit next to someone. Then she saw Maura and walked to her.

"Is this seat taken?"

"Yes."

"For who?"

"Whom."

"Okay then. For whom?"

"None of your business."

"What?"

"You can't sit here."

"Why not?"

"Because you…"

"Because I what?"

"I thought you were different."

"What are you talking about?" Jane was confused.

"You are just like the rest of them. Making fun of me and calling me boring. Not even boring, bore-a. That's not even a word."

"I've never called you boring Maura."

"Yes. I heard you and Emily saying it after biology."

"Emily said it. I didn't."

"You agreed with her though."

"I'm sorry Maura. I didn't mean it. I never judge people I don't know, I know that to well from being on the other side of it. Please. I have no one else to sit next to."

"Fine." She answered a little grumpy but Jane took it as a yes and sat down.

When Jane had just taken her seat the teacher walked in. It was an old man who introduced himself as Michael Barsi. He spent the whole class talking about how the semester would be. Jane started feeling a little bit nervous. He talked about how they would have an exam every Friday to see what they'd learned.

"I guess Friday's are ruined." Jane whispered in Maura's ear, forgetting for a second that it wasn't Emily.

"Shh." She said hastily.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm listening to the teacher and you're disturbing me so shh."

"I really don't like it when people shuss me."

"and I really don't like it when people talk when the teacher is talking."

Maura sure was a nerd. But at least she was better to sit next to then KDK, Rory or Joey. Jane decided to try to focus even though the teacher sounded so boring and she almost fell asleep but then the bell suddenly rang and they were free.


	3. Beacon Hill

**Chapter 3 - Beacon Hill**

Hockey try-outs went great. Jane was the only girl who tried out but she was better than half of the boys so she made the team. Unfortunately Joey and Rory were also on the team. They hadn't said a word to Jane since the lunch incident and that made Jane extremely happy. On the other hand, Emily had come with her, to watch her, but Jane felt like she was mainly watching Steve. Steve was almost didn't make the team because he was so distracted by Emily. Jane felt a little bit jealous and that made her feel angry and a little bit aggressive. That was actually good though, because she showed it in the try-outs and was very good.

When they were finished she was about to run to talk to Emily when the coach approached her.

"Rizzoli?"

"Yes sir?"

"Excellent work out there."

"Thank you sir."

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You are the only girl on our team and hockey is a tough sport."

"Don't worry coach. I'm tough, I've been playing hockey since I was seven. I don't care if I'm the only girl, and I hope you won't treat me any differently because of that."

"Of course I won't. I just wanted to make sure you're ready for this."

"You bet! I can't wait to start. But my friend is waiting for me. Is there anything else?"

"No. You may go."

Jane walked out and starting taking her skates off and her hockey costume. She put her things in her bag and started looking for Emily. She finally heard her voice and walked towards it. She stopped suddenly when she realized Emily was talking to Steve. She stood there giggling and he was obviously showing off. Jane took a couple of steps backwards and accidentally walked into Casey.

"Hey Jane. Why are you walking backwards?" Casey then saw Emily and Steve talking. "Oh, I see."

"What? I'm not... I don't… I mean... I just don't want to disturb them."

"They might take their time if you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Steve can go on for hours. He has been talking about Emily the past two days. Did you see how awful he was today?"

"Yeah."

"He was always making sure she was looking at him so he got distracted."

"Yeah." Jane sad and couldn't help but feeling sad.

"Jane?" She suddenly heard Emily call her. "Are you there?"

"Yep. Coming." She answered quickly. "See you tomorrow Casey."

"Yeah. See you Jane." He smiled at her.

Emily said goodbye to Steve and ran to Jane.

"I was about to go home without you." Jane said and sounded a bit more disappointed than she intended to.

"Hey! What's the matter Jane?"

"You were just standing there, flirting with him."

"No Jane. I wasn't. I promise. I would never do that to you."

"I don't care Emily. He obviously doesn't like me."

"Jane."

"No I mean it. He likes you. And I think you like him too. You should just go for it."

"You're not happy. I don't believe you! And I already told you I don't like him!"

"Now you're just lying to make me feel better."

Emily didn't answer and they walked silently to Jane's house.

"I, I'm sorry Emily. I just feel really tired and I want to get started on the biology assignment and I've already got math homework. I think I'm just going to go in by myself."

"It's okay Jane. I'll see you tomorrow before school."

"See you." Jane said, walked in and closed the door behind her.

What was wrong with her? Jane was mad at herself. She couldn't blame Emily, Emily didn't ask for this. It was all Steve. It wasn't even his fault. How should he know that Jane liked him? Jane felt sick. She just wanted to be alone. She tried to do her homework but she didn't feel like it. Then she decided to go for a run instead. She put on her shoes and started running. Before she knew it she had ran all the way to the fancy neighborhood of Beacon Hill. She stopped to catch her breath and just sit and relax. She walked into a park that had a lot of benches and Jane decided to sit down on one of them and close her eyes for a second. Before she knew it she had drifted off to dreamland and didn't wake up until a soft voice said her name.

"Jane?"

Jane opened her eyes to see who it was.

"Maura?"

"I'm sorry Jane. Did I wake you?"

"It's okay. I didn't mean to fall asleep anyway."

Maura smiled and Jane noticed that she had the most beautiful smile Jane had ever seen.

"What brings you here? I've never seen you here before."

"I went out for a run, didn't really think about where I was going and somehow I ended up here." She looked at the blonde who was still just standing there. "You can have a seat. I don't bite." Maura sat down next to Jane. "What brings you here?"

"Oh I like to walk around the park and sometimes I bring a book, sit down on one of these benches and just read. You must think I am such a geek. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. That sounds nice." Jane smiled. "Do you live around here?"

"Yes. I actually live in this house right there." Maura said and pointed at a big mansion that Jane had figured was a museum, she didn't think normal people would actually live in a house that big. "I live there with my mum and dad, although they actually travel a lot so sometimes I am all alone."

"Wow."

"Would you like to come in? I was just about to fix myself some dinner and I would love some company."

Jane didn't know how to respond. She was starving but she had no money and figured she wouldn't have the energy to run all the way back home.

"I'd love to Maura."

The girls walked silently over to Maura's house and when they got to the big gate that covered the entrance Jane was stunned. This was the biggest yard she'd ever seen. They had water fountains, trees, flowers and then just a lot of open space. Maura pressed some numbers and then the big gate opened.

Maura didn't want to come off as a total snob. She tried to come up with some excuses why her house was so big but when she thought about them they just made her feel like a snob. She had never had friends over so she really wanted it work and then Jane would maybe come back again.

"This is a really nice house Maura."

"Yeah. Wait until you see the inside. I sort of can't believe we've got this enormous house for just three people."

"That is just so cool Maura."

Maura smiled and opened the door. When no one greeted them at the door Jane was surprised.

"Whoa." She said shocked

"What?"

"I sort of expected there to be a fancy butler to greet us at the door and to take our coats."

"Well. We actually have a housekeeper but she's not here all the time. She just comes in to clean the house and do the laundry."

"This is just like a castle Maura. It's awesome."

"Do you want to see my room?"

"I'd love to." Jane said and followed Maura upstairs.

When they got upstairs Jane walked into a room almost as big as the whole upper floor of Jane's house. She had a big flat screen TV, a couch, a queen size bed, a desk with a computer on it and then placed in front of the biggest wall were the most bookshelves Jane had ever seen out of a library. She had so many books. Jane couldn't imagine having time to read all of those books even if you'd spend your whole life doing it.

"Wow! Those are a lot of books."

"Yes. I like to read."

"Have you read all of these?"

"I'm not certain, I think there are some that I still haven't had the chance to read just yet."

"So. What do you usually do after school and with your friends?"

Maura blushed and felt awkward. Should she tell Jane that she didn't have any friends? That she had actually never had a friend over?

"Uhm… Actually, you're the first one I've ever invited to my house."

"What?" Jane was surprised. "Then who do you hang out with?"

"Uhm… I guess I just _hang _here all by myself most of the times."

"Wow. I just figured you had your friends from your old school."

"Actually, before I started at your school I was home schooled."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We moved around a lot so my mother hired a private tutor to teach me."

"Then why did you start at our school?"

"My mom said she wanted to settle down, and I sure was tired of being home schooled so I asked her if I could go to a normal school. She did not react well at first but she knew one of our old teachers so she decided to let me go."

"I see."

"I tried to fit in but I soon saw that I didn't, so I stopped trying and…" Jane was looking at her like she felt sorry for her. Maura didn't want pity though. "I didn't mean to make you feel sorry for me, trust me, it wasn't that bad. I at least got to go to a regular school and well, socialize just a little bit."

"Aren't you in any clubs?"

"I was in the computer geek club and the science club. Not exactly a cool kid material."

"What about sports?"

"I do fencing and ballet."

Jane laughed but felt a little bit bad about it.

"Sorry, it's just that I started imagining myself doing those sports and well… That's not exactly me."

"Well. I don't judge. What sports do you like?"

"Hockey. And softball or baseball, just both and well football too."

"Wow. I'm not really much for those kinds of sports. I do like ice skating though. But I think I'd rather be fit for figure skating than hockey."

Jane smiled.

"I actually like winter sports. When we lived in France and Italy I used to go skiing with my parents all the time."

"Wow. Skiing? That's awesome. I've never been. I've watched it on TV though and it looks so awesome." Jane started imitating skiers. "The way they just bolt down the hill on a great speed and turn and try to hit the poles on the way. It's just so cool but crazy as well. I can't believe you do it."

"Well. It's really fun."

"Oh I bet."

They didn't have anything to say for a while until Jane's stomach suddenly started growling.

"Oh gosh. I'm so sorry."

"Would you like to stay for dinner? I was just about to cook myself some pasta."

"Really?"

"Like I said before Jane. I'd love the company."

"Well. You're really nice Maura, and thank you. I'd love to stay for dinner."

Maura then started cooking and Jane just sat down and watched her cook. She offered her help but Maura said she was a guest so she was just supposed to sit and wait.

When Maura had finished she put the lovely smelling pasta on Jane's plate and served her some sort of a fancy juice that Jane had never tasted before but it was surprisingly good. They both enjoyed each other's company and Jane wondered why she'd never talked to Maura before. She was such a lovely girl. She also knew her mother would approve of their friendship and encourage it.

"How will you go back home?"

"Uh… I haven't really thought about it to be honest."

"I have a personal driver that takes me anywhere I want. Would you like him to give you a lift home?"

"Wow Maura, a personal driver. That's neat. But no thank you. It wouldn't feel right. I also think I should just run back, it's not that far. I think it's only about five miles."

"Jane, that's a bit extreme. You ran all the way here and now you want to run back?"

"Yeah. It's good for me. I need the exercise."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Maura. But thank you for everything. This was really nice." Jane started walking towards the door.

"Thank you too Jane. I really enjoyed your company tonight." Maura followed her and opened the door.

"See you in biology tomorrow."

"Yeah. Good night Jane."

"Good night Maura."


	4. Public Speaking

Thank you for kind reviews! So far I really like this story and hope it won't be too long until we see some more Rizzles, but since they're still so young I might have to keep it subtle and fluffy in the beginning. If you've got any tips for my writing I'd love to hear them, because I plan on making writing a big part of my life so I only want to get better!

**Chapter 4 - Public speaking**

The next two weeks of school went smoothly. Jane wasn't so annoyed by KDK or Joey and Rory anymore and she was actually doing rather well with her studies. She enjoyed the biology assignment and working with Maura turned out to be great. She hadn't spent any time with her after school though, because she had been too busy with her sports and activities. She also felt a little distance between her and Emily all of a sudden. They sat together in lunch and Emily still came by the house in the morning but still, something was different.

It was now the last chance they had to finish their biology assignment and tomorrow they'd show their work in front of the whole class. Jane and Maura were pretty much finished so they wouldn't have to meet after school.

"Hey Maura."

"Hey Jane."

"Is there anything left to do in our assignment?"

"No I think it's just perfect. I added some pictures and finished it last night. I hope you don't mind." She brought up her laptop. "Here. I'll show you."

Maura showed her a beautiful Power Point presentation that she looked forward to present to the class.

"Wow Maura. That's amazing. No wonder you were in the computer geek club."

Maura didn't say anything but she smiled.

"So. Who will do what tomorrow? Should we have our text printed out or just say it as it comes to our head?"

"Oh Jane, this is the worst part."

"What?"

"I am so afraid of speaking in front of all these kids, I don't think I can do it."

"What? Of course you can Maura. That's the easy part."

"For you maybe. I've never been a fan of public speaking. I tend to just lay low and cover my face with books."

"Oh Maura, that's awful."

"I know, but what can we do?"

"I'll ask the teacher." Jane said and raised her hand. "Mr. Cohen?"

He stood up and walked to their table.

"Our presentation is pretty much done. But we were wondering if Maura could control the slideshow while I'd be the one who talks?"

"Nonsense." He then started talking to the whole class instead of just Jane and Maura. "This whole assignment is supposed to train you to speak publicly and present your work to your class mates. I expect everyone to speak and present the assignment."

Jane looked around and saw everybody staring at them. She didn't mind but she saw that Maura blushed and looked away. She then noticed Emily and Kate giggling and whispering in each other's ears.

"I'm sorry Maura."

"Don't worry Jane. I'll just rehearse this when I get home and I will be ready by tomorrow. Don't worry."

"Hey! You better not bail on me."

"Don't worry. I just have to get over this puerile fear."

Jane smiled and they started planning tomorrow's presentation. When the bell finally rang Jane was really happy and excited for tomorrow. She had never really enjoyed biology before and this was the first assignment in years she was excited about.

Jane went into the cafeteria but there was no sign of Emily anywhere. She sat down at their with Casey and Steve.

"Hey Jane. Have you seen Emily?" Steve asked.

"Nope. Maybe I should text her."

Jane pulled her phone out of her pocket but then Emily happened to walk into the cafeteria. She was not alone though. She and Kate were giggling and Emily didn't even look at Jane. She was obviously trying to avoid eye contact with her and just stared at Kate. Jane felt really confused. She shook her head and looked at the boys.

"Since when has that been happening?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. Emily told me yesterday that she couldn't wait to finish the biology assignment and get a new partner."

"They sat next to each other in chemistry this morning." Steve said.

"What?"

"Yeah. She usually sits by Maria but today she sat next to Kate."

Jane was confused. She wanted to talk to Emily but she didn't want to go over to KDK's table which Emily had sat down to.

"Oh forget it. I'll talk to her after school." Jane said as she stood up and put her tray away. "See you guys at practice."

"Yeah. See you Jane." Casey said.

Jane felt sad and wasn't really looking where she was going until she accidentally walked into Maura who was carrying a lot of books.

"Oh my god, I am such a klutz." She bent down to the floor and started helping Maura pick up her books. "I am so sorry Maura."

"No worries. It was partly my fault as well. I wasn't observing where I was going. No need to worry Jane." Maura smiled and put her hair behind her ears.

Maura was always so nice. Jane wondered why she never saw her in the cafeteria and why she never associated with anyone.

"Hey Maura. What are you doing tonight?"

"I uhm… I don't know. I was probably going to read some of these books or maybe talk to my parents on the phone and I sound like such a loser…" Maura looked down but Jane could see that she blushed a little bit.

"That's okay Maura. I was just wandering if you would like some company. I have hockey practice at four but I'll be ready around six o'clock."

"Really? I would love the company Jane. What would you like to do?"

"I don't know… You could maybe come to my house and we could watch a movie or something." Jane felt a little awkward but she didn't know why.

"That would be really nice. I could finish my homework early and come to your place around six."

Jane smiled and she handed Maura all her books.

"Can I borrow your phone for a second?"

"Sure." Maura opened her bag and took up her iPhone. She unlocked it and handed it to Jane.

"Thank you." Jane said as she took the phone and started putting her phone number and address in Maura's contacts. "Here you go. I've put my number and address in your phone. I'll see you at six." Jane said as she handed Maura her phone and walked away.

"Since when do you hang out with Maura the bore-a?" Emily said as she appeared out of nowhere.

"What?"

"I saw you talking to her. Didn't realize you guys were friends."

"I could say the same about you and Kate. Since when do you like her?"

"I don't know. She's okay I guess."

"Really? Kate Atkins?"

"Yeah. At least she's more cool then Bore-a."

"Since when does it matter if people are cool?"

"Since always Jane. You just don't fit in with them so that's why you hate them."

"Oh and you do?"

"Maybe."

"I don't know what happened to you this summer and I don't like it."

"Well, if you weren't always so childish and immature and started to be like an actual teenage girl you would fit in."

"I don't care about fitting in."

"I know, and that's why you dress like a boy."

Jane walked away. She didn't like the way Emily had suddenly become. She wanted the good old Emily who didn't care about fitting in and laughed at girls like Kimberly, Debbie and Kate.

The bell rang and Jane ran to class. She couldn't really afford to be late to chemistry. It was hard enough already. She just begged they wouldn't get a lot of home work because she was going to hockey practice and then Maura would be coming over.

Jane sat alone in both chemistry and history and when the bell finally rang and school was finished Jane was relieved. She practically ran out and straight to the hockey rink for practice.

Hockey always made her feel better and she could always get her rage out by playing hockey.

The practice went smoothly and Jane was happy. She decided to take her time though because it was only ten minutes past five so Maura wouldn't be at her house for fifty minutes.

"Hey Jane." Casey said as he sat next to her to take his skates off.

"Oh hi Casey."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Sure." She looked around. "Where is Steve?"

"Oh I don't know. I think he was getting ready for a date."

"A date?" Jane tried to hide her feelings but inside it was killing her that Steve was going on a date. "With whom?"

"Well Emily of course. She finally agreed to it. He's been begging her to go out with him since school started."

"Oh." Jane tried to hide her disappointment but it was hard. How could Emily do this to her? She had promised not to go out with him and now she was. "Anyway Casey. I have to go home. See you at school tomorrow."

Jane rushed out and just wanted to go straight home. She also felt like calling Maura and cancelling but then she realized she didn't have her number. She walked home and decided to pull herself together. Why would she be so mad about a boy she never had a chance with anyway?

She changed her clothes into her favorite cargo pants and a white tank top. She brushed through her hair a little bit and tidied her room. When she was just finishing making the bed the doorbell rang and she ran down stairs to get it.

"Hi Jane."

"Hi Maura." Jane opened the door wider. "Come on in."

"Thank you." Maura walked in and took her coat off. "Your house is lovely Jane."

"It's not as cool as your house though."

"Your house is way homier. This is the way I would like to live."

"Wanna switch? I'm sure my parents won't mind." Maura smiled.

"And I don't think my parents would notice."

Jane walked Maura through the house and even showed her, her room. Nobody was home but Jane knew that wouldn't last long. Jane had her own TV in her room but she wasn't sure if Maura would like to watch a movie in there.

"What kind of movies do you like?" Jane asked.

"Oh I don't know. All we have at the house are documentaries so I haven't really seen many. I'm pretty sure I'd like anything that's not too scary though."

"Would you like to watch 21 jump street?"

"Sure."

"You have no idea what it is do you?"

"Uh… No."

"It's about two cops that go undercover in a high school to bust a drug ring."

"That sounds interesting. Do you want to watch it?"

"Yeah. I actually haven't seen it but it's Frankie's favorite. He bought it the other day and he's always talking about it."

"Okay Jane. That sounds great. Shouldn't we just watch it in your room?"

"Yes. I think that's best. My brothers will be home soon and so will my parents so I doubt we will have the chance to finish it down here."

They walked upstairs to Jane's room and she locked the door behind them. She put the DVD in the player and told Maura to sit down on the bed. She then sat next to her and they started watching the film.

When they had watched for about twenty minutes Jane heard her dad's car pull up in the drive way. She wasn't really bothered by it so she decided to stay put with Maura and just introduce them later.

After about ten minutes somebody knocked on the door. Jane paused the movie and opened it.

"Hi Janie. How was school?"

"Fine ma."

"Oh I see you have company. Hi I'm Angela Rizzoli."

"Maura Isles." Maura said, stood up and shook Angela's hand.

"She is my lab partner in biology."

"Nice to meet you Maura."

"You too Mrs. Rizzoli."

"Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Uh. I don't know." Maura said awkwardly as she and Jane hadn't discussed dinner plans.

"You are more than welcome to eat with us. We're having lasagna."

Maura looked at Jane who smiled.

"Yes please. That would be lovely."

"It won't be ready for another hour though. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Thank you ma." Jane said and closed the door behind her.

"Your mother is so nice."

"Yes she is. She can be a little bit too much involved though. I don't get much privacy."

"You're lucky to have her Jane."

"Yeah." Jane said. Because she knew that was true. A girl could do worse. "Shall we continue watching the film?"

"Yes." Maura smiled and sounded excited.

They both enjoyed the film even though Maura sometimes pointed out some scientific things that were wrong with some situations. When the movie finished Angela called the girls down for dinner and Jane took Maura down to meet the rest of the family.

"Stop it Frankie and Tommy. We have company." Angela said as the girls approached because Tommy and Frankie were fighting over the end seat. "Let Maura sit there."

The boys made a frowny face at each other but they stopped fighting and sat at a different place.

"Hey. This is my friend Maura Isles."

"Hi everybody."

Frank senior stood up and shook Maura's hand. "Nice to meet you Maura. Come have dinner with us."

"Thank you."

Maura smiled throughout the entire meal and Jane figured this wasn't exactly the way things were at the Isles household. But when they had finished eating Maura said she had to go home. Jane walked her to the door and they started talking about tomorrow's presentation.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Maura."

"At least you'll be up there with me."

"I will." Then Maura's driver honked and Maura gave Jane a hug.

"Thank you Jane. This was amazing. I really enjoyed the movie and your family is adorable. Your brothers are funny and your mother is so nice."

"See you tomorrow."

"Yes Jane. I look forward to it." Maura said as she walked towards the car and got in.

Jane was happy about the night. She had forgotten everything about Steve and Emily and she felt like she and Maura would become good friends.


	5. A Broken Nose on Top of a Broken Heart

**Chapter 5 - A Broken Nose on Top of a Broken Heart**

Maura managed to talk in front of the whole class proudly when she and Jane showed their work. Jane was proud of Maura and really hoped they would be partners again for the next two weeks.

When Emily and Kate were walking to the front of the class Emily gave Jane a look which indicated that they were going to be way better than Jane and Maura. Jane knew that was impossible so she mouthed back, _bring it on._

Mr. Cohen was happy with the result when everybody had showed their work and even Rory and Joey seemed to have done their best.

"Well class. This was great. I would like to keep the same partnerships for the next two weeks but then we might change. I will have your grades back on Monday so you may all go."

Jane was glad. Because on Fridays they had a double biology class and it was her last class of the day.

"Oh thank god. Weekend." Jane sighed when she and Maura walked out.

"What are your plans for the weekend Jane?"

"My dad is taking me and my brothers to see the Red Sox tomorrow. I am so excited about that!"

"Wow. That sounds fun. So the Red Sox is a band or?"

"A band?" Jane asked, shocked. "Maura? How can you live in Boston and not know the Red Sox?"

"Uh…" She got all awkward and weird.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh, but seriously. The Boston Red Sox is the greatest baseball team in the world!"

"Oh. I don't really know much about sports."

"Well, you definitely have to see a game. Maybe one day I can take you."

"That would be marvelous Jane."

"Definitely. But right now I have to get ready for hockey practice."

"Goodbye Jane."

"See you Maura." Jane said as she rushed to the hockey rink.

She walked in with a smile on her face but that suddenly disappeared when she saw Emily and Steve making out right in front of the girls changing room. Jane felt like her heart exploded. She was filled with something she didn't realize what was, but of course it was just pure jealousy.

"Excuse me, I have to change." She said hastily as she sort of ran into Emily.

"Excuse you! You didn't have to push me." Emily said angrily.

"I didn't push you, I simply tried to squeeze past you but you were just so busy making out with one of your many boyfriends you wouldn't move."

"At least I've had a boyfriend! Unlike you!"

"Yeah, well of course you do. There is Rick and Daniel and Joey and… Oh so today Steve is your boyfriend. Sorry Steve, almost didn't see you. Hi." She said with a sarcastic tone. "You better hold on to her, she is a keeper, or more like a keep her really close so she won't dump you like the rest."

"I didn't realize you were so jealous Jane. I'm sorry, but Steve was never interested in you." She looked at Steve. "Did you know, Jane had the biggest crush on you?"

Steve was obviously feeling super awkward and knew he had gotten himself into some massive girl drama. He stuttered and tried to excuse himself.

"She wrote all over her diary Mrs. Jane Sanner."

"That is so not true Emily."

"Yeah it is!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yu-hu!"

And that went on for a while until the coach came out and said the practice would begin in five minutes.

Jane ran off into the girl's locker room and couldn't wait to get her rage out on the ice.

She did her best and suddenly her rage transformed into happiness and she felt so good on the ice. Until all of a sudden she looked up to the bleachers to see Emily sitting there. For a second she got unfocused but that was the worst possible second to do so, because the puck went straight into her face and Jane fell down to the ice.

Jane woke up in a hospital with a horrible pain on her face. Her mouth felt like it was burning and her nose felt like it had grown three sizes. Her head was hurting too and when she tried to open her eyes she saw double and the whole room was spinning.

"Oh Janie! Thank god you are alright!" Angela said relived.

"Wha happe?" Jane tried to say but her mouth was so swollen she could barely speak.

"Oh baby. You got hit with the puck and you have a broken nose and maybe your jaw is broken too. Don't speak sweetie, the doctor will be here in a minute."

Jane tried to focus so the room would stop spinning and she could see single again. She felt awful, but she also felt the sedatives and thanked god for that.

"Miss Rizzoli, you have a broken nose that we have fixed now, and your jaw was dislocated and your teeth have moved so we are going to need you to wear a retainer."

Oh no! A retainer. That was awful. Like Jane wasn't made fun of enough already, a retainer would sure help that, or not.

"We have got you on sedation and we are going to keep you here over night just to make sure your nose and jaw will heal properly."

"Bwa duddo ve ved thoss?" Was all Jane could squeeze out when she tried to ask about the Red Sox game she was supposed to go see with her father and her brothers.

"Oh doctor. She has tickets to see the Red Sox tomorrow. Will she be able to go?"

"I'm afraid not. Mrs. Rizzoli. When we let her go tomorrow she will have to take it easy at home and basically just lie down or sit up straight."

"Oh Jane I'm so sorry. Maybe you can see the next game."

Jane wasn't sad about that news but instead she felt furious and decided to blame all this bad luck on Emily. She distracted Jane during practice so the puck went into her face. Yes, all Emily's fault, Jane thought.

Jane felt her eyelids becoming heavier and decided to try to fall asleep again because she really wanted to escape this nightmare.

"Hey Janie. You have a visitor."

Jane woke up to her mother's voice and tried to open her eyes to see who was visiting her.

"Hey Jane. I came by your house yesterday and your brother told me you were here." Maura said. "I'm so sorry you are injured."

"She can't really talk because her jaw was dislocated but fixed yesterday. She is highly sedated." Angela said and Jane was relieved.

"Oh poor thing. You look dreadful."

Jane really needed to see how she looked. She tried to find her phone but she had no idea where it was.

"Mijo?" Jane asked trying to squeeze out the word mirror.

"A what?" Angela asked.

"I think she wants a mirror Mrs. Rizzoli." Maura said politely.

"Oh please dear, just call me Angela."

Maura smiled and started looking through her purse to locate a mirror to give to Jane.

"Don't be surprised Jane, your face is all distended." Maura said as she handed Jane a small mirror.

Jane took the mirror and wanted to scream. This couldn't be a mirror, because the person looked nothing like Jane at all. Her nose was huge and at least three times bigger than her regular nose. Her cheeks were bloated and her lips were huge. She opened her mouth and saw a horrendous sight as her mouth was all bloody and her teeth were dislocated.

"Don't worry Janie. This will all fade in the next two weeks."

Two weeks? Jane couldn't look like this for two weeks. She would be made so much fun of.

"Pweeth dott may me go do gool." Jane almost cried out.

"I'm sorry honey, I don't understand you."

"I think she said, please don't make me go to school." Maura said and Jane nodded.

"We'll see how you are feeling on Monday. But the doctor is going to bring your discharge papers and we can go home soon."

Jane looked around to see what time it was. She saw a clock hanging over the door and it was half past one. She realized her father and brothers were not in the hospital because right now they were probably getting ready for the game that Jane was going to miss.

"I am sorry about you missing the game Jane."

This was just perfect. She looked like a monster and she was going to miss the game. How unfair could life be?

"Because you were talking about taking me to a game someday, I asked my father where we could get tickets and he got us tickets to the next game. I don't know if the seats are any good but he said something about it being right behind first base I think."

Was Jane's hearing also mended from the puck? There is no way she was going to a baseball game and be sitting right behind first base! Those were the best seats! Jane always just sat up in the bleachers.

"The next game is in two weeks, do you want to go with me Jane?"

Jane didn't believe what was happening.

"I am trying to read you facial expressions but you don't seem to look happy."

Jane was happy of course but she was just so shocked. Was this just another dream or was she really going to a game with Maura and sitting so close that she would even be able to see the sweat form on the players. She looked at Maura and tried to smile but it hurt so she nodded her head instead.

"That is great Jane. I look forward to it. I hope this will make you feel cheerier and you will recover rapidly."

Jane's pain suddenly wasn't so bad and she didn't really care that her brothers were going to the game today without her. She wanted to hug Maura so tightly and figured she would never be able to thank her fully for this.

"Well Ms. Rizzoli, here are your discharge papers so you can go home, but you have to take it easy and you have to come see me next Friday." The doctor said as he walked into the room.

"Trust me doctor. I will keep an eye on her the whole time."

"Very well then. Just sign these papers and you will be able to take her home. I also have a prescription for some pain killers that you can get down at the apothecary."

Jane was happy to go home but while she looked like that she couldn't imagine going to school. She would have to bring her A game in acting on Monday morning to convince her mom to let her stay home.

"Oh yeah, and don't forget the retainer."

Jane had forgotten that, retainer. Just great. Well. She decided to just look on the bright side, which was that in two weeks she would have front row seats to see the Red Sox.


	6. I Don't Want to go to School

**Chapter 6 - I Don't Want to go to School**

Jane woke up in pain on Monday morning which made her feel a little bit happy because she then she wouldn't have to go to school.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?" Her mother asked as she came into Jane's room.

"Not fo good." Jane said, she still had some trouble talking but she could say all the letters except for S and then she said F instead.

"Oh my poor little baby." Angela said and sat down on Jane's bed.

Jane normally didn't like the nicknames her mom called her. She usually said something to her mom when she called her baby, sweetie or Janie but not this time. No. She was going to pretend she was feeling her worst and that she absolutely wouldn't be able to go to school. Hopefully she would be able to stay home until she'd look somewhat normal.

"Let me take a look at your beautiful face." Angela said and cupped her face gently. "Oh it is so swollen. You can hardly see the beauty anymore." Jane pretended to feel hurt by her mother's touch. "Well, I think you should stay home today. I will call you in sick. You just rest baby girl." Angela said and left the room.

Jane sighed with relief and smiled. She didn't want to give those mean kids any more things to bully her about. She would also just enjoy spending the day in bed. She could maybe binge watch one of her favorite TV shows. She sat up carefully and found the remote for her TV and the hard drive she had connected to it so she could watch downloaded movies and TV shows on her TV.

She looked through the list of many TV shows and movies she had but in the end she decided to watch Criminal Minds. She was hooked on crime shows and Criminal Minds was one of her favorites. She started watching season 3 and figured that would be a great way to spend the day.

Angela had made breakfast and lunch for Jane but it all had to be liquid as Jane's teeth and jaw were too sore to chew. Jane was really craving a hamburger but she really liked her breakfast boost and her lunch soup. She was looking forward to her afternoon meal when someone knocked on the door.

"Hello Jane. Your mother told me to come straight to your room. Would you like company?"

"Hey Maura." Jane said and pressed pause on her TV show.

"What were you watching?"

"Oh juft criminal mindf."

"Is your mouth still swollen so you are having some trouble speaking."

Jane nodded. She felt like a total idiot when she spoke and couldn't say the letter S. It reminded her of her childhood and when the girls wouldn't play with her and called her a baby because she couldn't say S.

"It's okay. You don't have to talk." Maura sat down on Jane's bed. "I didn't want to be a total geek or the annoying friend who brings the sick kid their homework but we were assigned a new biology assignment and we got our grades for the last one.

"How did we do?"

"We got the highest grade. 98."

Jane smiled. She knew she couldn't have done it without Maura and of course most of it was thanks to Maura. Maura used her fancy vocabulary, her great computer skills and also her knowledge of the subject while Jane, uh, she mostly just agreed with everything Maura said and did.

"We don't have biology tomorrow but if you won't be coming in on Wednesday I can come by after school and we can maybe start working on it so you will be included."

Jane smiled and nodded.

"I would like to watch this show of yours. Criminal Minds you say, I haven't seen it. It looks exciting though."

Jane moved so Maura could get a better view of the TV and they watched two episodes before Angela came in with Jane's afternoon tea.

"Aw. Isn't this nice? Maura I hope you like cocoa because I made a cup for both of you." She said smiling and handed the girls each one cup of warm cocoa."

"Thankf ma." Jane said with a smile.

"If Jane won't be able to attend school tomorrow, would you be so kind to bring her her homework Maura? I don't want her to fall behind, but I think I'd like her to feel better before going to school."

Maura looked at Jane who rolled her eyes and then answered awkwardly.

"Sure thing Mrs. Rizzoli."

"Please dear, call me Angela." She said and left.

"I'm sorry Jane, but if I bring you your schoolwork your mother might let you stay home longer."

Jane nodded.

"I can also help you if you want."

Jane smiled and nodded again.

"Well, since we have no school work today, what do you say we watch two more episodes before I head home?"

Jane smiled and nodded again, and then she pressed play and they watched two more episodes.

"This was lovely Jane. I would like to do this again some time."

Jane nodded.

"I have to go home now though, but I will see you again tomorrow. Feel better." Maura said and hugged Jane. "Good night Jane."

"Good night Maura." Jane said and Maura walked herself out.

Jane lied down and suddenly felt all better, well, she didn't want to go to school, but still, Maura made her forget all her problems and all her pain.

"Well Jane? How are you feeling now? Do you think you can go to school tomorrow?"

Jane shook her head and made a frowny face. Angela took a good look at her daughter and she felt that it was best Jane would stay home another day. She had also arranged for Maura to bring her, her schoolwork so she thought it would be okay.

"Well Jane. You can just sleep in tomorrow then."

Jane smiled and closed her eyes. Oh how lovely it would be to spend another day in bed.

"But I don't want to."

"But you have to." Angela said on Friday morning when she tried to wake up Jane to go to school. "The swelling is gone, you can talk just fine and you don't feel much pain."

"How do you think you know how I feel?"

"I saw you eat a hamburger yesterday Jane. You can't be in much pain if you can stuff your face again."

"Well it hurts now."

"It hurts because you don't want to go to school."

"Yeah. Maybe. So what."

"Young lady, you are going and that's final."

"Please ma. I did my homework and Maura said she'd bring everything so I can catch up on the weekend. There's no point going to school for one day. Please mom. I still look horrible and the kids will just make fun of me." Jane tried to cry but unfortunately she wasn't that good of an actress.

Angela looked at her daughter who was obviously trying to fake sympathy tears but there was something about her that made her want to let her stay home for one more day.

"Well…"

Jane did her puppy eyes and looked at her mom.

"Okay then. But you will be going on Monday and you better ace all the assignments that you have been doing here instead of going to school."

"Thank you ma. You are the best!" Jane hugged her mother.

"Wow. You really mean it. You don't normally hug me and you especially don't initiate it."

Jane was so relieved. She still looked awful but her mother was right, the pain was mostly gone and she sounded normal again.

"Thank you so much! Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"You can clean your room young lady. It looks and smells like a pigsty."

Jane was happy to clean her room, she would do anything to stay home until Monday.

"Well Ms. Rizzoli. You certainly look much better. How are you feeling?" The doctor asked.

"Great. Apart from the stupid retainer, it is so annoying. When can I stop using it?" Jane answered and took it out.

"Unfortunately you will have to keep using it for a while. Your teeth are a bit fragile and we don't want them dislocated and I am sure you don't want to get braces."

Jane quickly put the retainer back into her mouth.

"Yes doctor. I will make sure she wears it."

"Your nose is shrinking back to its normal size and the swelling in your cheeks is mostly gone. You look good Rizzoli."

Jane smiled. But she still didn't look good enough to go to school she thought and the retainer would be well hidden in her mouth until she wouldn't need it anymore.

"It seems to me that everything is fine Mrs. Rizzoli. You can take your daughter home and she can go back to her normal activities. But I would suggest at least a week break from sports. We wouldn't want another incident."

Jane thought that one week of not playing sports would be alright but next time she would definitely wear a helmet cage at hockey practice.

"Thank you doctor. Come on darling, Maura is probably coming over soon."

"Please don't call me darling ma."

"Okay I'm sorry sweetie."

"Ma? Seriously! Enough with the nicknames. Jane is perfectly fine. You chose it."

"Sorry dea… Jane."

They walked silently to the car and got in.

"Maura is such a lovely girl. Why have you never brought her home before?"

"I didn't really know her until she became my partner in biology."

"Did she just start at your school or was she with you in junior high?"

"She was with me in junior high too, but she mostly just excluded herself out of all activities and spent all her time alone."

"I haven't seen Emily in a while. How is she?"

"I don't know. She was watching practice when this happened, but she obviously doesn't care. So why should I?"

"Come on Jane. You girls have been best friends for years. Why don't you call her."

"I don't know ma. I thought you liked Maura? Why do you want me to call Emily all of a sudden?"

"I don't know. Just, you know, it's a shame."

"Yeah."

They drove the rest of the way home in silence and Jane just stared out the window. Was Emily really this horrible? She hadn't texted her or called her. Both Steve and Casey had sent her a get well card when she was at the hospital and she'd been texting with both of them for the past week. Emily hadn't called, texted or dropped by. Was their friendship really over? Over something as stupid as this? Jane refused to believe it and decided to call Emily when she got home.

"Hi."

"Uh hi." Jane said awkwardly on the phone.

"Hi Jane. I'm sorry I haven't called, I just thought you wanted nothing to do with me. How are you?"

"Uh, I'm fine. I look like hell though but I don't feel it anymore."

"Are you coming to school on Monday?"

"Yeah, I guess. I hope KDK, Rory and Joey won't make fun of my new look though."

"You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Kimberly moved."

"What?"

"Yeah. Her parents got divorced and she is moving with her mom to Tulsa in Oklahoma."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She left today."

"Wow."

"Aha."

"Well. I just wanted to see if you hated me or something."

"Of course I don't hate you Jane."

"That's good."

"And I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"About everything."

"Oh Forget it. It's okay."

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is. I promise. Do you want to walk to school with me on Monday? Even though I look like a zombie?"

"Of course Jane. I would love that."

"Great. Then I'll see you Monday."

"See you Jane."

Jane smiled. Maybe the good old Emily was coming back. Maybe everything could go back to normal now. Maybe she should introduce her to Maura and all three of them could hang out. Well, she would think about that later. Right now Maura was ringing the door bell, bringing Jane's homework. They would spend the afternoon together studying but hopefully they'd be able to watch Criminal Minds when they'd finish. Maura was really enjoying it and Jane enjoyed seeing how into it Maura was.


	7. A Catfight in the Classroom

**Chapter 7 - Catfight in the Classroom **

The weekend passed quickly and Jane woke up suddenly on Monday morning, realizing she would have to go to school. She jumped up and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her nose was almost healed but it still looked a little bit swollen but the rest of her face was normal. She opened her mouth and removed her retainer. She obviously needed to wear it a little bit longer so she ran into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and washed the retainer. She put lotion on her face and washed it carefully. When she thought she looked somewhat nice she decided to go back to her room and try to find a decent outfit.

"Morning Jane." Angela said when Jane came downstairs. "Are you ready for school."

"As ready as I have to be ma." Jane said grumpy and sat down.

"You don't look that bad Jane." Tommy said.

"Gee. Thanks."

"What? This was a compliment."

"Somehow you always manage to say the wrong things Tommy." Frankie said. "No but seriously Jane, you don't look like a bloated zombie anymore."

"That's it. I'm not going."

"Stop it Jane. You look fine. Your idiot brothers just don't know how to talk to girls yet. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks ma." She said and then looked at her brothers. "If this is how you guys compliment all girls, you will both die alone."

Somebody knocked on the door and Jane jumped up to open it.

"Oh hey Em."

"Hey Jane."'

"Emily. Emily!" Both of the boys yelled and jumped out to see her.

"Hey Emily." Frankie said with his deepest voice. "You know, I have been lifting weights and stuff."

"Pfft. Girls like money rather than muscle Frankie." Tommy said to his brother. "Hey Emily, you know, I have a paper route and I have been saving up some money. Maybe you would like to see a movie with me."

"Gross!" Jane said. "Frankie, you are 12 and you haven't been lifting weights, unless you call 2 kg weights. You Tommy are 10, you still crawl into ma and pops bed whenever you have a nightmare. Please don't creep out my friend you pervs." Jane said and pushed her brothers out of the way. "I am so sorry for that Emily, maybe tomorrow we should meet outside and you just text me when you're here."

"Your brothers are so cute Jane, I don't mind."

"Gross… And if you start dating one of my brothers, first I will kill him, and then I will kill you. Please don't make me throw up by saying they're cute or adorable, because they're not!"

"Well. Shall we go?"

"Yes." Jane said and grabbed her bag.

"I'm so sorry about everything Jane. Especially about Steve."

"Why?"

"We broke up, or more like, he broke up with me."

"Oh Em I'm sorry."

"Yeah. But I'm more sorry. I knew you liked him and I was just mad at you and trying to make you jealous but I guess I liked him too"

"Of course you liked him too. And I mean, he picked you but I'm sorry about how he treated you."

"I really don't want to face him at school today."

Emily was obviously bummed out by the way Steve had treated her and Jane felt sorry for her. She wasn't sure if she should bring up the Kate business but she was so curious that she felt like she had to.

"Uhm, how's Kate?"

"Uhm how's Kate, Jane? Really?"

"I don't know. You were started to hanging out with her, what changed?"

"Nothing, I mean. She's still my friend, and we have that biology assignment together so… I don't know."

"What about Bore-a?"

"Please don't call her that."

"So you still socialize with her."

"Yeah. She kept me company all last week and she brought me my homework."

"What a geek. Bringing a sick friend a homework? That's what you do to your enemies."

"Nah, ma asked her to. If she hadn't I would have had to go back to school like this." Jane said and showed Emily a picture she had taken last week.

"Ouch! That had to hurt."

"Yeah! It was awful. I had to stay at the hospital overnight too."

Jane felt like everything was falling back into places when a car stopped next to them.

"Hey Janie. You forgot your retainer." Angela said.

"Oh maaaan."

"Remember what the doctor said. If you don't wear it, you might need braces."

"Yeah yeah. Just give it to me."

"Don't be rude."

"Thank you ma. But please, we're in a hurry."

"Okay girls. See you later."

"Bye ma."

"Eww gross. You have to wear a retainer?"

"Yup."

"Poor Janie." Emily said, mocking Jane.

"Don't call me Janie, or I will make sure you will have to wear a retainer and look like that."

"You wouldn't dare." Emily said and moved a little further away from Jane. "Janie." She then said and ran off to school.

Jane started sprinting after her but she accidentally ran into Steve on the way.

"Hey Jane."

"Uh, hey Steve."

"Can I talk to you?"

"Uh… Uh… Maybe later." Jane said and ran in after Emily. They had English in first period so Jane ran to the classroom.

"Hello Jane. You look so much better." Maura said. "Would you like to sit next to me?"

"Come on Jane, I saved you a seat." Emily said and waved Jane.

"Oh. I see. Don't worry about it Jane. Go sit next to Emily. I will just see you in biology."

Jane felt bad. She and Emily had been best friends since they were little kids, but lately she felt like she didn't know her. Maura had been such a good friend and had supported Jane in her sickness. Jane looked at both of them, Maura sitting there all by herself looking sad and then Emily waving to her with a confusing look on her face.

"Hey."

"What is up with you? I thought you were going to sit next to Bore-a."

"Please stop calling her that. It's not even a word."

"Easy."

"Good morning everybody. I hope you had a good weekend." Ms. Jacobs looked over the class. "Nice to see you again Rizzoli."

Jane blushed. She could feel everybody staring at her.

"Today I'm going to break you into pairs and you guys are going to work together to solve the questions from the book we read last week." She walked over to Jane. "I know you were sick last week Rizzoli but did you read the book? I know Ms. Isles brought you your school work so you would be able to keep up since you were absent a whole week."

"Yes Ms. Jacobs, I read the book."

"Great." She walked back to her desk. "I think it's just best if you work in pairs the way you are sitting."

Jane saw that everybody was sitting next to somebody but Maura. She was the only one sitting alone. She picked up her notebook and a pencil and seemed to be getting ready to do it by herself.

"Uh Ms. Isles, why don't you join Rizzoli and Matthews. The three of you can work together."

"I'm perfectly fine with doing the assignment on my own Ms. Jacobs."

"I know you are, but this is an assignment to make you guys work in pairs. You can't go through life without working with anyone else. Move your chair over to their table please."

"Yes miss." Maura said and moved her chair.

"Oh great."

"Don't be mean Emily. You'll see, she is really nice." Jane said. "Hey Maura, come join us."

"Thank you Jane." She said and then looked at Emily. "Matthews."

"Please, call me Emily." Emily said but sounded a bit too mean.

Jane knew she had to stay sharp because if she would get distracted everything could explode!

"Anyway, uhm. Should we do all the questions together or should we like switch them up?"

"Switch them up!" Emily and Maura said almost at the same time, staring into each other's eyes.

"Why don't you take the first 17 and then I take from 18 to 34 and then Maura can take the rest."

"Sure." Emily said, not breaking eye contact.

"Wow. Okay then. Off we go." Jane said trying to break the tension.

Jane could feel the tension cut the air. Emily and Maura were both trying to rush and always checking how the other was doing.

"Finished." Emily yelled, proud to be ahead of Maura.

"Well, congratulations. Just so you know, I finished five minutes ago, I just didn't feel the need to yell it over the entire class." Maura said.

"Let me see your answers." Emily said.

"Let me see your answers." Maura said.

Jane felt bad. She was only on question 27. She also hated being in the middle, she had hoped they could be friends and then all three of them could hang out.

"This one's wrong, and this one, well, I can't read this word. Is this supposed to be falafel or Palestine? Anyway, that hardly matters because neither one of those makes sense."

"Well I guess you need glasses then, cause this word is ratchet."

"I don't need glasses, you need a handwriting class."

"Oh, Poindexter-the-know-it-all."

"Well I'd rather be Poindexter-the-know-it-all than the Hoi Polloi."

"Good one, Maura." Emily said sarcastically.

"You don't even know what it means."

"Hoi Polloi?" Jane asked confused.

"It's common. Literal translation is the great unwashed."

"Classy. Hide your insults in Latin." Emily said.

"It's Greek."

"Oh the geek who knows Greek."

Jane looked at both of them and moved her eyes to keep up with them.

"Do you know how ridiculous you always sound? People laugh at you behind your back."

"Yeah well they call you a bitch behind yours."

"Ladies? Is there a problem?" Ms. Jacobs asked.

"Yeah. She's the problem." Emily said.

"Rizzoli? Is everything alright?"

"Uh, they are just having a little disagreement. Everything's fine Ms."

"Well, carry on then. But I want you to finish the assignment quietly."

"Seriously girls? What is wrong with you?"

"How do you expect me to work with somebody who has been harassing me for the past two years, particularly when I did nothing to deserve it."

"You come to our school acting all snobby and pretending to be better than everybody else and you say you did nothing to deserve it. Bite me blondie."

Jane looked at Maura with her puppy eyes trying to get her to stop.

"Can't we just finish this assignment and then be done with it?" Jane asked

"Sure."

"Why not."

Jane finished her questions and they put them all together and handed them in at the end of the class.

"I will go over this tonight and hand it in tomorrow. Well done class, see you tomorrow."

Maura stayed behind and Jane watched her go talk to Ms. Jacobs. She wanted to wait for her so she could talk to her and apologize for Emily's behavior.

"Come on Jane."

"Where are you going?"

"I have history. What about you?"

"Math."

"Okay then. See you at lunch?"

"Sure."

Jane stayed a little behind and waited for Maura. She was afraid she would be late for history but she really needed to speak to Maura. When she finally walked out of the classroom she walked right past Jane.

"Hey Maura wait."

"Wait for what Jane? I'm sorry but I can't socialize with you while you're with her. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry Maura, I didn't want it to go like this. I'm really sorry. I didn't want to pick sides."

"Really? Did Emily call you? Send you flowers or basically just send you anything while you were hurt?"

"No but..."

"Exactly. I don't know why you'd want to be with her Jane."

"She's been my best friend for years! I won't give that up so easily."

"Well, I don't want to stand in your way. I just don't want to be with her. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I- I'll see you in biology."

"Yeah. See you Jane."


	8. Planning for a Party

**Chapter 8 - Planning for a Party **

At lunch on Monday Jane had made her decision. She was going to tell Emily that she wouldn't hang out with her unless she'd be nice to Maura.

"Hey Jane."

"Uh Hey Steve."

"Can I talk to you?"

"Uh sure, I guess."

"I am so sorry about that Emily business. When I realized she was just using me to get back at you I broke it off immediately."

"Uh… Yeah. Okay then."

"Friends?"

"Yes. Friends."

Jane felt a little awkward. Did he break up with Emily because he liked Jane so much or what? Well, the conversation ended with them deciding to be friends so, obviously not.

"Hey. Uhm, I'm having a party Friday night, you want to come?"

"Sure."

"Great. See you then."

"See you."

Jane walked into the cafeteria and tried to locate Maura. Then she remembered that Maura never ate in the cafeteria. She looked over at the table she usually sat and saw Casey sitting with Emily. She walked towards them and put her plate down.

"Hey Jane. Are you going to Steve's party on Friday?"

"I guess."

"Me too. We should totally go together."

"Uhm, about that. I didn't really like the way you treated Maura."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you were mean to her for no good reason."

"She just thinks she is so much better than everybody else."

"No Em, she just tries to be better than the people who bully her."

"I don't see why you like her."

"Well, she's nice to me and we have had a lot of fun together."

"I can't imagine."

"Please Em, be nice to her. I'll talk to her too. I know it wasn't all your fault. I would really like it if you could be friends."

"Fine."

Jane smiled. Maybe this was progress. If she could only get them to come to her house after school maybe they'd become friends.

When she had finished her lunch she decided to call Maura.

"Hey Maura. Can I meet you somewhere before biology?"

"I guess so. I'm just sitting in front of the classroom."

"Great. I'll be there in a jiff."

"Goodbye Jane."

Jane put her tray away and hurried out of the cafeteria. On her way she accidentally ran into Joey who was not happy.

"Holy Poly Rizzoli. Nice to see you around."

"Oh forget it Joey."

"Nice retainer? You gonna get braces?"

"No."

"Well, what a shame. That means I can't call you metal mouth."

"Gee, what a shame. Well, love to sit and chat but I have a friend waiting for me unlike you so you can just booger off." Jane said cocky and ran out before he had a chance to answer.

"Hey Maura. I'm sorry, I ran into Joey on the way."

"I see."

"Please Maura, talk to me. I am really sorry that I let Emily treat you this way in English. I, I should have stopped her. I have talked to her now and she would like to try again. Are you willing to try again? We can go to my house after school."

"I'm sorry Jane but I don't think so."

"Oh Maura please." Jane made her puppy eyes and looked straight into Maura's eyes.

"Please don't try to persuade me."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do. Please! I really want you two to be friends."

Maura looked at Jane who smiled and seemed so hopeful, trying to please everybody.

"Fine. I can give her one more chance."

"Thank you so much Maura. You are such a good friend."

Maura smiled. This was the first time she had ever been called a good friend. She wasn't willing to lose that over some girl, no she would fight to stay friends with Jane.

"That's the bell. Come on. Let's finish our assignment and then maybe we can leave early on Friday." Jane said and they walked into the class room.

When school was finished Jane tried to find Emily but she was nowhere to be found so she decided to call her.

"Hey Em? Where are you?"

"Uh I'm with Debbie and Kate. We're going to Kate's house, wanna join us?"

"Uh, no thank you."

"Come on Jane. Kate says you're totally welcome."

"Well, maybe next time. I have plans."

"Bye then."

"Bye." She hung up the phone looking confused and then Maura walked towards her.

"Hello Jane. Where is Emily?"

"She won't be joining us."

"That's a shame."

"Not really. Well, should we go to my place or yours?"

"Yours is way closer and I love your place Jane."

"Yeah right, your place is frigging huge and so awesome. Why do we never hang out there?"

"Because you spent last week being sick at home from school, you were not allowed to leave the house. But if you prefer my house I guess we can go there."

"Yes." Jane cheered and really looked forward to explore Maura's house again. "Are we taking the bus or what?"

"My driver is waiting in front of the school but if you prefer the bus, I am sure we can arrange that."

"No. I hate the bus. A personal driver sounds so much better! That's so awesome. You're awesome Maura."

Maura felt proud and happy whenever Jane complimented her. She wished that they had known each other for longer. She regret all those years she spent hiding behind books because Jane was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

"Is this your personal driver?"

"He is inside the car yes."

"Holy shit, this is like a limo. Wooow! Jane couldn't take her eyes of the black shiny vehicle that she was about to get into. "This is soooo awesome!" Jane yelled and ran towards the car."

"You're the coolest person ever Maura. And just so you know, you would be even though you didn't have all these cool things but seriously, if I haven't said it enough already, this is so awesome!"

Again Maura felt some tingling in her stomach and it made her smile and blush a little bit. She was proud to have made a friend like Jane.

When they arrived at Maura's house Jane just sat still in the car.

"This is the coziest thing I've ever sat on. I don't think I want to get out."

"Just wait until you see our _salle de détente_."

"Huh?"

"Lounge, or our relaxing room."

"You have a relaxing room?" Jane asked shocked and way louder then she had intended to.

"Yes. It's the room my parents like to stay in after a long business trip. We have got sofas, chairs and a television."

"Then what the hell are we doing in here! Off to the sali di ditent or something."

Maura smiled. Jane was so funny and clever. She also always knew what to say.

Jane ran off to the front door and waited for Maura to open it.

"Oh Jane you amuse me."

"I do?"

"Yes you do. You are so funny and sweet."

"Well, I'm glad you have a reason to want to hang out with me."

"Why would I not want to hang out with you Jane?"

"Because I live in a house of the size of one room in your house and I am so the opposite of fancy, I don't know, I'm just nothing like you."

"You know what they say, opposites tend to attract one another."

"I guess. Well? The relaxing room?"

"Of course Jane."

Maura led the way and Jane followed. She was busy looking around so she accidentally walked into a table and fell down.

"I can see why your mother worries about you doing sports."

"Hehe, I guess I can be a little clumsy and distracted sometimes but how can I not when you live in a freaking castle. A freaking awesome castle. It would definitely take me days to explore."

"Well. Here is the _salle de détente._" Maura said and opened the door to heaven, Jane was sure of it.

Inside the room they had the biggest TV Jane had ever seen in somebody's home, they had some designer chairs that looked like they were floating in the air and they seemed so cozy, they also had an enormous couch and a fireplace.

"Am I dead and this is heaven?"

"No Jane. But sometimes it sure feels like it."

Jane was so amazed. She asked if she could sit in one of the floating chairs and when she touched the softest fabric ever she decided she would never get up.

"It's like lying on a cloud."

"Not really, clouds are just water so you'd fall straight through them."

"I know Maura, I meant this feels like the clouds in the cartoons, the way you imagined it would feel like to lie on a cloud, well, until you actually knew that clouds were just water." Jane closed her eyes. "If this was my house I'd sleep here every night!"

"I sometimes like to fall asleep on the couch but my mother doesn't encourage it so I only do it when I'm alone."

"My mom won't even let me stay home alone in the evening let alone overnight."

"My mother says I am mature enough to stay home alone now that I am fourteen and in high school."

"Lucky you."

"Well, I wished they were home more often. This giant house makes me feel lonely all the time."

"Well, if you ever want company I can definitely spend the night."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think my mom won't mind. I can definitely persuade her."

"Well you are welcome to stay here anytime you want."

"Be careful what you say Maura, I might actually take you up on that offer and just move in."

Maura smiled, because she would really love it if Jane could be here all the time. She watched Jane as she drifted off and fell asleep. She decided to just let her sleep and make her something to eat when she'd wake up.

Jane could feel how her eyelids were becoming heavier. She tried to fight it but soon enough she was fast asleep.

"Are you alright Jane? I think you were having a nightmare. I'm sorry to wake you up but I made you some afternoon snacks." Maura said and Jane felt really confused.

She sat up slowly and realized she was at Maura's house and she had accidentally fallen asleep on her chair.

"Oh I'm sorry Maura, didn't mean to fall asleep. Some company huh."

"I don't mind Jane. But I thought you would maybe like some snacks."

"Uh sure." Jane felt so confused but followed Maura into the kitchen.

"You told me last week your favorite snacks were bacon chocolate, as uncultured as that sounds I made some for you and I am going to give it a try as well."

"Yum!" Jane sat down at the table. "Bacon chocolate, my favorite." Jane said as she took a bite. "I know this is like the unhealthiest food you could ever eat but oh my it is just so good!"

Maura looked at Jane enjoying her food. Maura could never understand how someone would like bacon and chocolate mixed together but she was willing to try.

"Oh my, this is the best one I've ever had Maura. Did you make it?"

Maura spat out her food.

"It's not really for everyone."

"Clearly not." Maura had a sip of water and wiped her mouth. "This is the worst thing I've ever tried, even though I have had my share of weird food."

"Well. I love it! Yummy in my tummy."

Maura smiled and observed Jane as she enjoyed the food.

"Well, this was amazing. I better call ma though." She digged out her phone from her pocket. "Oh crap." Jane said frustrated. "I have to go home. Ma texted me fifteen minutes ago asking me to look after Tommy while she visited her friends."

"Well. I have to do my homework anyway Jane."

"I hate that I have to go and especially that I spent all my time here sleeping."

"You were fast asleep and sort of moaning when I woke you up. What were you dreaming?"

"Uh…" Jane got awkward because there was no way in hell she would be able to tell Maura what she was dreaming about. "I can't really remember. I woke up so suddenly."

"I'm sorry Jane."

"Hah! Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow at school. Thanks for the food and everything. Bye Maura."

"Wait Jane. Don't you want William to drive you home?"

"Oh that would be great. Is it really okay though?"

"Of course it is. I'll walk you to him."

Jane and Maura walked to William and Jane got into the car. She loved sitting in this car and hoped that she would be able to afford one of these when she was older.

On her way home she thought about the dream she had. She and Maura had been playing and fooling around on the couch and Maura was tickling Jane. All of a sudden she stopped and they stared straight into each other's eyes. They moved their head closer to each other and their lips were just about to meet when Maura woke Jane up.

Jane felt awkward and ashamed but she didn't want Maura to notice. Jane had no idea what that meant but she sure as hell was going to try to forget it. After all it was just a dream.


	9. A Par-Tea

**Chapter 9 - A Par-Tea **

The following days were fine. Emily spent most of her time with Debbie and Kate so Jane hung out with Maura. She had completely forgotten her dream and was looking forward to the party that was happening tonight.

"Are you going?"

"Uh, I wasn't invited."

"Well, you can come with me. I was invited. And you were probably not invited because you're never in the cafeteria at lunch so, duh."

"I don't know."

"It won't be the same without you."

Maura smiled. Jane was always so nice and always wanted Maura to do everything with her.

"I would love to Jane, but my parents are flying in this evening and I don't think they'd appreciate coming home to an empty house."

"Oh I get it. Well. The next one."

"Of course Jane. And don't forget the game on Sunday."

"Forget? That's all I've been thinking about these past two weeks!"

"I'm glad Jane."

"I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Don't Jane. I love to make you happy."

"I wish I could make you happy too."

"You do Jane. By being my friend and always being so nice to me. You make me happy Jane."

They looked deep into each other's eyes and smiled until Angela barged in on them.

"When are you coming home Janie?"

"Uh I don't know. When do I have to?"

"You are only 14 years old so I don't want you to come home after midnight."

Wow. Jane was surprised, she thought her mom would say nine o'clock.

"I promise ma. I might come home earlier than that though."

"Just have fun Janie."

"Ma. Don't call me Janie."

"I'm sorry sweetheart."

"Ma!"

"Oops. I'm just going to leave."

Angela left and Jane looked at Maura but the moment had passed.

"I think I should be heading home now."

"Yeah. Well. See you tomorrow."

"Yes Jane. Have fun tonight." Maura gave her a hug and a part of Jane didn't want to let go. She was absolutely positive the party would be a snooze fest without Maura.

While walking to the party Jane thought about how her friendship with Maura had been. Maura was always so nice to Jane. She never criticized her or said anything mean to her. She never forced her to wear make-up or fancy clothes and she always complimented her for everything. Maura was so much better then Emily, she just hoped Maura knew how much their friendship meant to her.

"Welcome to my humble abode." Steve said when Jane arrived.

"Thank you Steve. Wow, you invited many people."

"Yup. I have to enjoy my freedom, my parents are out of town so of course I have a party."

"Yeah." Jane walked inside only to find a crowded living room with people dancing and playing games. She walked towards the drink table and was just about to grab a drink when Joey approached her.

"Hey frog-face."

"Hey frog-face." Jane copied him.

"Where's your hot nerdy friend?"

"Who? Casey? He's probably here somewhere." Jane looked around.

"Haha, think you're real funny ha?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about becoming a comedian! Well, oh man, that probably means I will have to hang out with you more, because I get all my best jokes by just looking at your face."

"If you weren't a girl, I would kick your ass."

"Oh really?"

"Oh wait a minute. You aren't a girl."

"Now who's funny."

"Nice talking to you Rizzoli." Joey said and left the room.

"Always a pleasure." Jane said back and decided to go explore the house.

The last room she checked out was Steve's room. She was walking around in it and checking out all the prizes he'd won.

"Hey don't…" Jane turned around. "Oh it's you. I was just about to lock the door." Steve said.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." She but the prize she was holding, back on the shelve. "I'll just go back downstairs."

"Don't. You're welcome to stay here. I can keep you company. Have a seat on my bed."

Jane sat on his bed and soon enough Steve had closed the door and joined her on the bed.

"When are you coming back to hockey practice?"

"Uh… Probably Monday."

"Cool."

"Yeah."

"You can hardly see you were ever hit with a puck."

"Yeah, well. Time heals."

"Yes it does."

Then everything became quiet. They looked deep into each other's eyes but all of a sudden Steve closed his eyes and started moving his head closer to Jane's. She was so excited. Steve, a boy she'd been in love with for four years was finally about to kiss her. She thought about the time Emily told her about her first kiss.

"_When he's moving closer to you your head starts to spin, you get massive butterflies in your tummy, you feel so happy that you almost want to cry and when his lips finally touch yours all the butterflies start flying around and your head starts spinning even faster. Your whole body will know and when the kiss finally ends you will feel like you explode and all the butterflies finally escape. Your body shivers and it slowly fades away."_

Finally Jane was about to have her very first kiss. She closed her eyes and waited for her head to start spinning. He moved closer and suddenly his lips touched hers. She had no butterflies in her stomach and the lips that were pressing against hers felt a little aggressive. This was nothing like she had hoped it would be. She then opened her eyes and kept her lips closed even though Steve was trying to push something in. Jane then pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked

"Uh, I don't know. I'm sorry." Jane said and then thought about the time Emily explained true love to her.

"_When you're in love with someone you want to be with them all the time. They make you smile and whenever they approach you feel happy. When they touch you, you get this tingling in your stomach and you want to hold on forever. Whenever you're not with them you feel like a part of you is missing."_

"_Wow. How do you know all this?"_

"_My sister told me and she is married with kids so she must know."_

Jane looked at Steve. He seemed confused. Jane wasn't sure what she should do. She then stood up quickly and ran downstairs.

"Jane? Jane wait!" Steve yelled and ran after her.

Jane didn't stop, she got out of the house as fast as she could and ran home.

"Jane? You're home already? You just left?" Angela saw the frightening look on Jane's face, she stood by the door like she was frozen. "Jane? What's wrong?"

Jane didn't answer, nor did she move.

"What happened? Tell me honey."

"Don't call me honey." Jane then said and ran upstairs to her room. She locked the door and lied down on her bed. Jane knew her mom wouldn't give up so easily and before she knew it Angela was knocking on the door.

"Tell me what's wrong Jane. What happened?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, I just don't like parties. Please leave me alone."

"No Jane. I know something is bothering you, come out and talk to me."

"No. I don't want to talk about it. Please leave me alone ma!"

"Jane."

"For god's sake leave me alone!" Jane yelled.

Angela stopped knocking and Jane could hear her footsteps as she walked downstairs.

Jane didn't want to think about the party or anything so she decided to distract herself by playing a video game on her laptop. She had an old baseball game that she could play for hours. She turned it on and started playing.

Jane then woke up to her phone ringing.

"Good morning Jane. This is Maura."

"Hey Maura." Jane sounded way sleepier than she intended to.

"I'm sorry Jane. I didn't mean to wake you up. It's way early in the morning."

"It's okay Maura. I didn't go to bed late and I should be up anyway."

"My parents came home last night and we were talking about you and they would like to invite you over for tea."

"I don't drink tea."

"You don't have to drink it, we will have many other hors d'oeuvres."

"Huh?"

"Refreshments."

"Oh okay. When do you want me to come?"

"I think two o'clock would be fine."

"Okay Maura. I'll be there. Is it just gonna be the four of us?"

"Yes."

"Will it be like fancy or some?"

"No no. Just a Saturday afternoon tea. You are not required to wear a dress, just wear something you want to wear Jane."

"Okay Maura. See you then."

"Good bye Jane."

Jane hung up the phone and checked what time it was. It was almost eleven o'clock so Jane would have good two hours to get ready. She decided to take a shower and wear something nice, because judging by the way the Isles lived they were probably a bit snobby.

She picked out her fanciest jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue T-shirt, white pair of socks and some underwear and took it into the bathroom.

She decided to take it slow in the shower and just relax. She washed her hair and realized she should definitely have a haircut soon. Her dark, thick, curly hair covered her entire back when it was wet. She also needed a lot of shampoo to wash it. Yes. It was time to have a haircut. Jane couldn't even remember the last time she had a haircut.

"Jane. I need to take a shower." Frankie knocked on the door.

"Just a minute." Jane said a bit frustrated.

She found a bottle of conditioner which she decided to try to put in her hair. She had never put conditioner in her hair before but when she had washed it out, her dark hair shined and was so soft to touch. It also smelled really nice.

When she got out of the shower she started brushing through her hair and it had never been so easy to brush through before.

"Wow where are you going? On a date?" Frankie said with a smirk look on his face.

"No. I'm just going over to Maura's."

"Yeah right." Frankie said and jumped into the bathroom before Jane could answer.

Jane walked downstairs and hoped she would be able to escape the house without a second degree from her mother but Angela called at her before she opened the front door.

"Where are you going Jane looking so fancy?"

"I'm just going to Maura's."

"Jane Clémentine Rizzoli, you better not lie to me."

"I'm not lying ma. Seriously. You can call Maura and ask her if you don't believe me." Jane said frustrated and handed her mother her cellphone.

"And where are you going after?"

"Uh… Home? Seriously ma! I'm just going to Maura's house and having a tea with her parents, I promise I'm not meeting any boys or whatever you are accusing me of doing. Now may I please go before I miss my bus? Huh?"

Angela didn't answer but opened the door for Jane who ran off as soon as she could. Angela had never seen her daughter act like this before, they would definitely talk about this tonight.

Jane ran to the bus stop but tried not to go too fast so she wouldn't sweat. She got to the bus stop one minute early and waited for the bus that stopped right outside Maura's house.

She hopped on and found a seat in the back. She looked out the window and tried really hard not to think about last night but at some point she found herself thinking about it and feeling so awkward. She really didn't want to face Steve in school on Monday. She really wanted to talk to Maura about this and hoped they could get some time alone after the tea.

"Oh you must be Ms. Rizzoli. Maura has told us so much about you. Come on in dear." Mrs. Isles said.

"Thank you. Maura has told me a lot about you guys too." Jane said and hung up her jacket.

"Hi Jane." Maura said happily and jumped to Jane. She gave her a big hug and Jane couldn't help but smell her hair just a little bit. "I am so glad you could come join us for tea Jane."

"Me too." Jane smiled and they looked deep into each other's eyes.

"Well the tea is ready my dears, come join us in the living room." Mrs. Isles said.

Jane felt awkward, she really wanted to make good impression for Maura's parents, but she was a little nervous, she also couldn't remember the name of Maura's dad, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember his name.

"Ms. Rizzoli, I hear you are Maura's partner in biology. Are you challenging her?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh mother, we are supposed to help each other out in biology, not challenge each other."

"I just want to make sure my daughter gets the finest education. Did you know she is planning on becoming a doctor, maybe she'll even be a surgeon." Mrs. Isles said proudly. "What about you Ms. Rizzoli? Are you interested in medicine?"

"Uh, I don't know. I don't think I'm smart enough to become a doctor."

"Jane is really smart mother, she's just being modest. She gets good grades and she is really good at sports." Maura jumped in as her mother looked suspicious.

"Do you enjoy sports?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"Which sports do you prefer?"

"Uh baseball and hockey mostly."

"Baseball and hockey?" Mrs. Isles asked confused. "I thought these sports were for boys only."

"No." Jane grinned. "I mean, yeah, most people think that but, I don't know, I mean I'm the only girl on the hockey team but still it's fun."

Jane felt awkward, Maura's mother obviously didn't like that and Jane was so afraid that Constance wouldn't approve of her.

"Jane's been teaching me a lot about baseball, she's even going to teach me to bat and pitch, and tomorrow we're seeing the game, remember?"

"Those were some fine seats I got for you girls, I hope you have a lovely time." Mr. Isles finally spoke.

"Thank you Mr. Isles." Jane said and tried going back to before where she actually seemed like one of them.

"Oh you can call me Harold." He said.

Jane smiled and knew that Maura's dad was starting to like her. Jane than looked at Maura who smiled at her and indicated that everything was going well and according to plan.

After the tea, Maura's parents excused themselves and went to visit some friends.

"That was so great Jane. Thank you. I think they both like you."

"I tried really hard to seem like one of you."

"You don't have to put on a show, just be who you are Jane. That's the Jane that I like, and I am sure my parents will like that Jane too."

Jane smiled. Maura was always so nice. She hadn't asked Jane to look nice or pretend to be something she wasn't, she just wanted her parents to meet her new friend.

"I forgot to ask you Jane, how was the party?"

"Uh, so lame, I left early, but it was so awkward."

"What was so awkward?"

"Steve kissed me?"

"Oh Jane, and how was it?"

"Bad. Really, really, really bad."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, it was sort of like gross and, you know, I just had to get out of there."

"Oh poor thing. But I thought you liked Steve."

"So did I. Maybe I'm just not ready for this stuff, you know, kissing and that kind."

"That's alright Jane, you're only starting high school. You don't have to be ready."

"Are you ready?"

"I don't know Jane. Maybe if the right guy comes along, but to kiss just anybody. I don't think so."

"Yeah. Me neither."


	10. Baseball

**Chapter 10 - Baseball**

When Sunday finally arrived, Jane couldn't wait for the game. She woke up at eight and had no idea how to kill time before the game. She went down to the kitchen and found her mother making breakfast.

"Do you need any help making breakfast ma?"

"Janie? You're up so early? Excited for the game?"

"Oh you bet! Woke up with a smile on my face and jumped down here straight away, I really need something to kill time. The game doesn't start until three o'clock, so please ma. Give me something to do."

"Well, since you're offering, maybe you can start by setting the table for me."

"Of course ma."

The morning passed slowly. Her father came down and just grabbed some breakfast and then he left for work. Jane got the honors of waking up her brothers, which she enjoyed doing.

She enjoyed waking up her brothers and neither of them had locks on their doors. She jumped on Frankie's bed and yelled: "Wake up!"

"Oh why so mean?" Frankie said grumpy

"Because, I am excited about the Red Sox game and we baked pancakes, so if you don't get up off your ass you won't get any." She said and went into Tommy's room.

"FIRE!" She screamed into Tommy's ear, but he didn't move. Jane tried to yell again but he slept like a rock.

"Fine, than no pancakes for you."

"Pancakes?" Tommy said, sat up and looked like he had been awake the whole time.

"Next time when mom needs to wake you up for school I'll tell her to say that."

Jane ran downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table.

After breakfast she went to her room to find her Red Sox jersey and cap. She put it on her bed and decided not to wear it until she had eaten lunch as well so she wouldn't spill anything on it. She got everything ready for the game but she still had five hours to kill.

She asked her brothers to play basketball in the driveway but after a while they got tired so she decided to go for a run, and then by the time she would get back she would have a time for a quick shower and then Maura's dad would pick her up to go to the game.

"I can't believe these seats Maura, they're amazing!" Jane looked at her friend who was sitting next to her at the baseball game. "Thank you so much Maura."

"You are welcome Jane. And thank you for coming with me. This is really fun."

"Yeah it is, isn't it?" Jane said and looked over the field.

The game was going well and so far Jane and Maura hadn't gotten out of their seats but Jane needed to use the bathroom in the 7th Inning Stretch.

"This is the longest break, we can use the bathroom and buy snacks. You have to try the hotdogs Maura they're the best one's in the world." Jane said.

"I could use a break to go to the restroom, do you need to go?" Maura said and stood up.

"Yes."

"Subsequently, I can purchase us some hotdogs."

"Maura, sometimes I don't understand your fancy vocabulary. Why don't you just say: _And then I'll buy us some hotdogs_?"

"You think my vocabulary is elaborate?"

"Whatever that means."

"Well maybe I should speak more like you Jane, but I don't think my parents would like that."

"Nah, who cares what they think? You spend most of your time with me anyway. But still, if you like sounding like a dictionary just remember I am not a thesaurus and can't translate all of your big words."

"Oh Jane, you amuse me."

"See! That's a think I'd never say. I'd say: _Oh Jane, you are hilarious." _Jane said and tried to make her voice sound like Maura's.

"My voice doesn't sound like that." Maura said a little bit offended.

"Yeah it does."

"No it does not."

"Yeah. It does." They were already in the bathroom waiting for a toilet. "Ah, an empty stall." Jane said and ran into it.

Maura thought about what Jane had said. Her vocabulary could sometimes be a little too old fashioned or mature for teenagers. Maybe she should tone it down just a little bit.

"These toilets are repulsive Jane."

"Oh I know, they're pretty disgusting, but seriously, games are long and you often get thirsty, so what other choice do you have?"

Maura shuddered and washed her hands really carefully. Jane couldn't help but to laugh a little.

"Come on, let's get some hotdogs, my treat." Jane said.

"No my treat Jane."

"Why? You already paid for the tickets and you got us the ride, can't I please buy the hotdogs and soda?" Jane looked at Maura with puppy eyes.

"If you insist Jane."

"Oh I do Maura. You just take a seat and I will bring the snacks to you." Jane said and ran towards the line.

She didn't have to wait too long and ordered two hotdogs and two glasses of Fanta. She had enough for popcorn too so she decided to buy one for them to share. She was a bit worried she would spill all the food on the floor on her way back to her seat but she made it back with no spills.

"Wow, popcorn too Jane, I believe the food here is rather expensive."

"Ma gave me money to spend on snacks, she said she couldn't let you pay for everything."

"This is really generous, thank you Jane."

Jane was happy she had finally been able to buy something for Maura. She sat down next to her and started eating her hotdog.

"Wow, I never expected this hotdog to taste so good, I love it."

"Told you."

Maura looked at Jane eating her hotdog and Jane looked back. Jane wanted to freeze this moment. This was the best day of her life and she got to spend it with her best friend.

Jane really enjoyed watching the game, and usually when she was watching baseball no one was allowed to disturb her, but sometimes she looked at Maura to see how she liked the game. Maura cheered on for the Red Sox and Jane felt like she understood at least some of it, she never asked Jane about anything during the game. Either she was too busy watching it herself or she just didn't want to disturb Jane.

"Jane, the game is over there." Maura pointed out awkwardly

Jane had obviously stared at Maura for too long so she noticed. Jane immediately blushed and turned away. She didn't mean to stare, she didn't even know why she was staring at Maura, but every time Jane looked at her Jane felt good, she felt peaceful. But now that Maura noticed, Jane was too afraid to look at her again. She simply just focused on the game until the end.

"Wow, this was so awesome. Thank you again, so much for these tickets."

"I'm just happy that you are so happy Jane. And I am glad I got to do this with you." Maura smiled and grabbed Jane's hand to hold.

Jane blushed and when Maura touched her, she felt a tingling in her stomach, but she liked it and was a little pissed when Maura let go, to answer her phone.

"Hello father. We will be right out. Good bye." Maura hung up the phone. "My father is here, come on. I am going to ask him to take a picture of us, in front of the gate."

They walked out and followed the stream down to the parking lot.

"Hello father. Thank you for this, it was truly amazing."

"So you girls had a good time?" Maura's dad asked

"Yes we did. Thank you again Mr. Rizzoli, this was the best day of my life." Jane said.

"Father? Can you take a picture on my phone of us standing in front of the gate?"

"Of course dear."

"Come on Jane. Let's take a picture to remember this day forever."

Jane hated photo shoots. Every year around thanksgiving Jane's mother would try to take a family portrait to send as holiday cards but that was always a disaster. Jane always felt like an idiot as soon as someone picked up a camera. But when Maura dragged her to the gate and put her arms around her Jane suddenly forgot all about how much she hated photo shoots, and she put on the biggest, prettiest smile she could.

In the car on the way home, Jane didn't talk much. She was too busy thinking about the great day she had, she couldn't believe she would have to go home now and tomorrow everything was finally going back to normal.

Maura on the other hand informed her dad on everything that happened. She told him with real enthusiasm all about the game and how the Red Sox won. She also mentioned she would like to go again, and her father said he could definitely get them tickets again.

"Oh my Jane. Would you like to go with me to another baseball game soon? This was so much fun."

"Of course Maura."

"You are so quiet Jane, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I'm just tired."

"Me too." Maura said and grabbed Jane's hand again. She didn't let go until they had arrived at Jane's house about fifteen minutes later.

"Thank you both so much." Jane said as she left the car and reluctantly let go of Maura's hand.

"You're welcome Jane. Hope to see you soon."

"You too Mr. Isles, and send my best to your wife."

"Will do."

"See you at school tomorrow Jane."

"See you Maura." Jane said and closed the car door. She waited to see them drive off and then she walked slowly towards the door.

"Hey Jane." Her father greeted her at the door.

"Hey pop. Were you working?"

"Yes. Just got home. How was the game?"

"Great! The Red Sox won of course and we had the best seats ever! It was so amazing."

"Hey Jane. How was it?" Frankie asked.

"Awesome!"

"Jane! You're home, how was the game?" Tommy asked.

"It was so much fun. Did you guys watch it?"

"Yeah, and we saw you on TV, that was so cool. I am so jealous!" Tommy said.

"It was so cool seeing you on TV Jane, and these seats? How lucky are you?"

"Pretty lucky." Jane said and smiled proudly.

"Well, dinner is ready everybody so come on into the kitchen." Angela called from the kitchen.

Over dinner the family mostly discussed baseball, but Jane was unusually quiet and didn't say much. She also excused herself from the table as soon as she had finished and went into her room.

She still had some homework to do but she wasn't really in the mood. She decided to open her laptop and check out facebook.

Maura had changed her profile picture to the picture of the two of them. She had also shared it and written:

_Me and my best friend after a great baseball game! It was so awesome #Redsox_

Jane liked the picture and saved it. She admired the picture and she looked at herself and she didn't look that bad. She decided to put it as her desktop background. She was about to log out, when Maura popped up on the chat.

"Hey Jane. How do you like the picture?"

"I love it."

"What does the hashtag thing mean?"

"What?"

"I wrote #Redsox … I see all our classmates do it all the time, what does it do?"

"Lol, Maura. It's just a thing you do, you can click on it and then if somebody else wrote #Redsox you can see their post and they can see yours."

"I see. Well, thank you again so much Jane."

"No, thank you Maura. You are the best friend in the whole world."

"And you are my best friend Jane. Life has gotten so much better since I got to know you."

"Mine too. Well, gotta go. Nice to chat with you Maura. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Jane."

Jane logged out and closed the web browser. She decided to turn on the TV instead and maybe watch a movie. She put her computer away and thought about the day.

Maura was truly her best friend.


	11. Lost Memory Monday

**Chapter 11 - Lost Memory Monday**

Jane woke up on Monday morning, checking her clock and realizing she was running late. She cursed herself and everyone else for not waking her up. She jumped off the bed and got dressed in a hurry. She didn't have time to find matching socks so she just picked up some dirty ones from the floor. Then she ran downstairs and grabbed herself a banana to eat on the way.

She checked her phone and she saw that she only had three minutes before the bell rang so she started to run. She hoped she didn't forget anything and ran as fast as she could.

She made it to the school before the bell rang, but just about. She had to hurry so she wouldn't be marked as late in her first class, which was English. She saw Emily sitting with Kate and realized she didn't even care, she just wanted to sit next to Maura.

"Hey Jane. You look tired. Did you run over here?"

"Yes I did, I woke up late and had to hurry over here."

"When did you wake up?"

"I don't know, about fifteen minutes ago."

"Really? And you still look amazing, how do you do this? I have to wake up at six and take a shower. If I woke up fifteen minutes ago I would be a train wreck."

Jane found that hard to believe, but really? Did Maura really thing she looked amazing? She smiled.

"I hear your vocabulary is changing into a regular teenage vocabulary, congratulations Maura. A train wreck, I'm surprised you didn't use a word like atrocious or ghastly or something."

"Oh yeah?"

"Wow, you even said oh yeah. Great Maura, absolutely fascinating." Jane said in a mocking tone.

Maura smiled and Jane smiled back. Jane looked deep into Maura's big hazel eyes. She had long thick eyelashes and big beautiful eyes. Jane almost got lost in the beauty of Maura's eyes until, Ms. Jacobs entered the room and Jane looked away immediately.

Classes went really smoothly throughout the day and she wasn't bothered by Debbie and Kate or Rory and Joey.

At lunch, Jane asked Maura to eat with her in the cafeteria, which she happily did.

"Why do you never eat in the cafeteria, Maura?"

"I always bring my own lunch and I just feel so awkward in there and like I have nowhere to sit."

"Now you can sit with me."

"I really don't want to repeat what happened on my first day of junior high. I got something to eat and then I had no place to sit. I sat down at an empty table but some mean girls told me it was their table and kicked me out. After that I decided to bring my own lunch and eat in the hallway."

"Oh god, that is awful. I am so glad that I and the boys have a table. You don't mind sitting with Casey and…" Jane stopped for a moment and realized she hadn't talked to Steve since Friday night. "Shit, I can't sit with Steve, he might bring up the kissing. Oh god, well, let's just do it your way and eat in the hallway Maura." Jane turned around and meant to walk away, but in all the chaos, she accidentally walked into the person she was avoiding.

"Hey Jane."

"Uh hey… uh… Steve."

"Going to lunch?"

"Uhm… Don't know."

"Come on, you and Maura can both come and sit with me and Casey, I think he's already there, waiting for us to join him."

"Uh…" Was the only thing Jane was able to stutter.

"That would be absolutely fantastic. Thank you Steve." Maura said and pulled Jane back to the cafeteria. "Just act normal Jane, like nothing happened. You also have hockey practice with him after school, so all you can do is just act like nothing happened, and then maybe he will do to."

Maura was right. If Steve didn't want to remember this awful kiss, Jane was certainly not the person who would bring it up. She followed Maura to the queue, picked up a plate and waited to be served. She then walked with Maura to the table and sat down. She just hoped and prayed Steve would not mention it, especially not in front of Casey.

Lunch went great and Steve looked like he didn't even remember the kiss. He was just like he'd always been and talked to Jane like nothing ever happened between them.

Maura even looked like she was having fun and the boys seemed to like her.

"This was way better than my way. Thank you Jane. Can I eat lunch with you more often?"

"All the time Maura. You don't even have to ask."

Maura smiled and felt happy. Finally everything was good. She had a best friend and was getting to know other people as well. Life was good.

"You're going to hockey practice after school, aren't you Jane?"

"Yeah. You can watch if you want."

"Maybe next time. I think I should spend some time with my parents, I'm pretty sure they won't be staying long."

"Okay then. See you tomorrow."

"Good bye Jane."

Jane felt a little sad when she waved goodbye to Maura as they walked their separate ways. Jane had wanted her to come and watch her play hockey. Well, at least she was finally able to play hockey. She hadn't been allowed to go to practice for the past two weeks so Jane decided to do her very best and prove herself to the coach.

After practice Jane was happy. She had done her very best and the coach seemed happy. She was happy and on her way home when Steve called her name and ran towards her.

"Hey Jane, I didn't want to bring up the kiss thing in front of your friend at lunch but I was wandering if we could talk?"

"Sure Steve. I'm really sorry about last Friday, I don't know what happened."

"It's okay. I just wanted to tell you not to worry about it. I didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything, I'm sorry."

"You're so nice Steve."

"It's just, I was wondering… Are you… I mean… It's just… You know…" Steve stuttered.

"What?"

"Do you have feelings for Maura?"

"WHAT?" Jane asked, shocked! She was caught so off guard that she said it way louder than she intended. "I… Uh… No. Pfft. What would make you think that?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume anything Jane, it's just, I have seen you with her and sometimes I feel like you have a crush on her or something, but sorry again. Can we just forget the whole thing?"

"Yes. And we should Steve. Let's go back to the way things were."

"And I'm sorry about assuming…" Jane cut him off.

"Just forget about it, and it's not true! We're just friends."

"Noted Jane. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye Steve."

Jane walked home feeling confused. Why would Steve assume she was into Maura? They were just friends. They were just friendly friends being friends. Jane was so confused, why was Steve always messing with her head? She tried to think about something else but all she could think about was the question Steve asked her. She really hoped that when she got home, her family would be able to distract her and make her forget this. She really wanted to forget all about this.

"Hey Jane. How was school today?"

"It was fine ma, just a regular school day. Nothing special happened."

"Did you go to hockey practice?"

"Of course I did, the doctor said I could go today."

"I know, but I wasn't sure if you were ready."

"I was, and it went great. As you can see I didn't get hurt so please, can we just forget about the puck incident, once and for all?"

"Okay Jane. But just be careful. It's hard being the only girl in a sport like that, I have seen how the other guys play, maybe you shouldn't."

"Ma! Why do you always do this? It's like you don't want me to do the things that I like doing, I don't care if I'm the only girl, I don't care if girls should rather do some other things or dress differently than me! I don't care!"

"I'm sorry Jane, but why are you taking this so seriously, I didn't mean to offend you."

"I know ma, I'm just tired. Please, just let it go. Is dinner ready?"

"No, not yet. It might even be a little late, because your father is coming home late. You can have some bread if you're hungry."

"Thanks ma. I'll just go to my room. I need to do some homework."

Jane wasn't lying but, when she had locked the door to her room she didn't pick up her school books but instead she picked up her laptop. She admired the desktop photo for a while. They were smiling and they were so happy. Jane felt happy. This was the best day of her life and getting to spend it with Maura made it even better.

"_Do you have feelings for Maura?" _Steve's voice said in her head.

"No I don't. She's just my friend. She is just my friend. She is just, my…"

Jane stared at the photo. She had some feelings for Maura, she felt happy, she felt good. Did that mean she had feelings for her? Jane was confused but she decided not to overthink it and opened up Facebook.

She scrolled down her news feed but didn't find anything interesting so she just put her computer away and picked up her homework. She didn't have a lot of homework, but she had some math, which she decided to start on.

She struggled for about an hour but she was able to finish it without any help or by cheating and that made her proud. She put her math books back into her bag and picked up the book she was supposed to read in English. _A Separate Peace, _by John Knowles.

Jane wasn't so excited about this book and she didn't really read much, but that was probably a bad thing anyway, so she picked up the book and lied on her bed.

She was really getting into her reading when her mother called her for dinner. She jumped out of the bed and put the book away. She ran downstairs and sat down at the dinner table.

"Hey sweetie. How was your day?" Her father asked.

"It was good. I was finally able to go to hockey practice."

"That's great. And how did that go?"

"It went great."

"You're still playing as attacker?"

"Yes. I beat out five boys for that position."

"That's my Jane. Always better than the boys."

Jane usually felt a better connection with her dad. He never criticized her for liking sports or the way she dressed. He liked her for who she was. He also encouraged her to do sports and he had taught her everything she knew. Much to her mother's dismay.

As a kid, Jane hated wearing dresses, because she liked climbing trees and dresses are not the appropriate wear for that. Her mother on the other hand always bought her dresses or skirts. Her neighbor and childhood friend had pants that fitted Jane and gave her two pairs. Her mother got mad but Jane refused to wear anything else unless her mother would buy her some new pants instead.

Angela couldn't have her baby girl wearing old and dirty boys clothes so she gave in and bought her daughter pants.

After that, Jane only wore a dress on Christmas. She and her mother had made a deal. As long as Jane would agree to wear a dress on Christmas, her mother wouldn't bother her about wearing it any other day of the year.

"Well, bon appétit everybody. Dig in." Her mother said and served her famous Spaghetti Bolognese.

Jane was starving and she loved spaghetti. She filled her plate and started eating. Oh how lucky she was. Her mother was the best cook in the whole city. Jane liked everything her mother made, it was always delicious.

"Thank you ma, this was so good. I think I am going to explode." Jane said when she finished eating.

"I'll take that as a compliment, but I'd rather if you wouldn't explode Jane."

"Don't worry. Well, I am going to continue with my homework, I have to read a story by John Knowles." Jane said and left the table.

She went to her room and closed the door. She continued reading the book, until she fell asleep and drifted off to dreamland.


	12. Maid of Honor

**Chapter 12 - Maid of Honor**

Jane could feel some awkward tension between her and Steve for the next couple of weeks. She could feel him looking at her during class but every time she turned around he looked away quickly. At lunch, they didn't really talk to each other but only to Casey and Maura or as a group. Jane really didn't know why he was acting like this because she thought everything was fine, and it was supposed to be fine anyway.

She was determined to confront him at Friday's hockey practice but he was a no show. She tried calling him afterwards but he didn't answer so Jane decided to just wait until Monday. She was going to stop thinking about Steve because this weekend she and Maura were having a sleepover.

Jane was going to stay at Maura's house tonight and also Saturday night. Jane's parents were going away for the weekend so all the Rizzoli children were staying over at friends' houses.

She was going home straight after practice to pack her things, and then Maura's dad would pick her up. Jane was so looking forward to this sleepover. She ran home and packed her things really quickly. She even brought some DVDs and hoped they might be able to watch them on Maura's big TV.

Jane brought a sleeping bag and pajamas, she brought all her necessary toiletries, she packed down the retainer but she really didn't want to use it. She brought some spare clothes, her laptop and headphones. She didn't want to bring too much stuff, but she would be staying there for three nights. She could also always go home and pick up things she'd forgotten, because she had keys.

She had just located her sleeping bag when she heard the car horn from the Isles's car. She ran downstairs and jumped out the door. She was happy to see that Maura was sitting in the back seat, so the car ride wouldn't be some awkward conversation between Jane and Harold.

"Hello Jane. We decided we're dining out tonight so we just came all together."

"Cool. That sounds great. So where are we going?"

"Sorellina." Maura answered in an Italian accent.

"Sorrelina? Isn't that like one of the most expensive restaurants in Boston? I can't afford to eat there. All ma gave me was twenty bucks, and that was supposed to last me through the whole weekend."

"Oh silly, we don't expect you to pay, my father is paying."

"Oh Maura, you always do this."

"Do what Jane?"

"Make me feel bad for not being able to buy you anything."

"Please Jane. Don't you know how awful I feel when I eat dinner at your house? That just reminds me that my parents don't cook."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've been telling mother that Angela is the best chef in the whole world and her food is the best I've ever tasted. Mother than said we would have to take you to the greatest Italian restaurant in town, and that's Sorrelina."

"Fine." Jane said with a grumpy face.

When they arrived at the restaurant Jane felt bad about the way she was dressed. She was wearing cargo pants and an old band T-shirt. She leaned to whisper in Maura's ear.

"Maura, I think I am a bit under dressed for this."

"No it's okay Jane, you look fine. It isn't as fancy as you'd think."

The restaurant was pretty fancy so Jane just followed the Isles family to the table. The menu looked delicious so Jane had no idea what she should order. She asked Maura what she was having, and Maura said she was going to have some kind of pasta. Jane just decided to have the same as Maura and a glass of coke to drink.

Constance and Harold started talking about something Jane knew nothing about, she didn't even understand half of what they said. She looked at Maura who didn't seem to be interested in the grown-up conversation.

They didn't have to wait long for their food and Jane loved the pasta she had ordered. Maura sure knew what Jane liked.

After they ate their dinner, Constance asked the girls if they would like some dessert. Maura wanted tiramisu, but Jane didn't really like tiramisu so instead she ordered some chocolate cake.

Jane accidentally peeked at the check and she saw how much the meal cost altogether. Jane was so shocked, she almost fell out of her chair. She had figured the meal would be expensive, but not that expensive. She imagined they could have bought a TV or a smart phone or something for that price. How on earth could a simple dinner for four cost so much?

When they finally got home to the Isles house Constance and Harold disappeared into their bedroom so the girls basically had the rest of the house to themselves.

"So what do you want to do now Jane?"

"I don't know. Watch a movie? Play cards?"

"I love to play cards."

"Me too."

The girls ran up to Maura's bedroom and she got out her deck of cards.

Maura knew a lot of card games Jane had never even heard of and she taught them to Jane. Jane also knew a lot of games that Maura didn't know.

"Wow, we've been playing for hours. It's amazing how a simple deck of cards can keep you busy for so long." Maura said.

"True."

"I'm getting pretty tired."

"Already? It's only eleven o'clock."

"Not sleepy tired, but you know, I would like to put on my pajamas and get into bed. Maybe we could watch a movie or something."

"Yeah. Okay. I like that. But where should I sleep? I see no mattress on the floor."

"In my bed silly. It's big enough for the two of us."

Jane looked at Maura's big bed. It was true, it was big enough for the both of them.

"Okay. Great. I'll just go put on my jammies."

Maura then opened a big walk-in closet and picked out a really fancy nightdress. Jane sort of felt bad about her soccer shorts and Red Sox T-shirt that she always slept in.

"Cool pajamas Jane."

"Uh thank you. How come you always look like you're going to a photoshoot?"

Maura didn't answer but simply laughed. She then asked Jane to wait a minute while she ran downstairs.

Jane picked up the movies she had brought over. There was only one of them she hadn't seen. It was called _Maid of Honor_ and looked funny. Jane decided to ask Maura if they should watch that film when she came back.

Maura walked back into the room with a big bowl of popcorn. Jane loved popcorn.

"I decided to make us some popcorn."

"Wow that's great. Uhm, I brought over these films, but this is the only one I haven't seen." Jane said and picked up _Maid of Honor._

"Then Maid of Honor it is." Maura said and took the disc off Jane. She put it in the player, got the remote and jumped into bed with the popcorn.

Jane felt a bit awkward getting into bed with Maura. She didn't know where to go. Maura was in the middle of the bed getting comfortable and Jane just stood there.

"Come on Jane. Get into bed. You have to have some popcorn while it's still hot." Maura said and pointed Jane to get on the right side of the bed.

Jane got in carefully and made sure there was space between both of them.

"Are you afraid of me or something?"

"Huh?"

"You're just sitting on the edge of the bed looking really uncomfortable." Maura put the popcorn away and pulled Jane closer. "Come on, you don't need to be afraid. I don't bite." She got the bowl of popcorn and handed it to Jane. "Here, have some popcorn."

Jane didn't say anything. She was sitting so close to Maura she could smell her. Maura smelled amazing. She smelled like summer, like when you wake up on the first day of the summer holiday and you go outside and it's just so fresh and sunny. Maura smelled like the first breath you take on a summer day.

"I'm so sorry if my hair is getting in your face Jane."

"Nah don't worry. Your hair is so soft."

Maura's golden, wavy hair was hanging loose and not tied up with anything like usually. It looked so shiny and felt like feathers.

The girls both enjoyed the film and they ate all the popcorn. When the movie was finished they decided to go brush their teeth and hair and get ready for bed.

Jane was ready before Maura and got into bed and started getting comfortable. Maura was taking some time getting ready but she got out of the bathroom eventually and got into bed with Jane.

"Jane?"

"Yes?"

"What is your wedding fantasy?"

"Excuse me?" Jane said confused.

"I dream about getting married right above a volcano, in the cliffs of Santorini."

"What if the volcano erupts?" Jane said, sort of mocking Maura.

"Oh, I would check for radio activation first."

"Of course you would." Jane said and laughed softly.

"What about yours?"

"I don't know… I don't really think about that sort of stuff."

"Come on Jane, you must have some fantasies about your future." Maura said and sounded like she was not giving up on this.

"Well… It was a long time ago, but, I don't know, uhm…" Jane stuttered and felt a little uncomfortable about sharing this with somebody. "I wanted to say my wows at Fenway over home plate, in a…" She looked at Maura awkwardly to see her reaction. "Red Sox jersey." The girls both laughed.

"That's sweet, not exactly elegant, but colorful."

"Then we would have the reception over at the pitcher's bound and we'd serve foot long hotdogs and frozen lemonade. In the end, the guests would throw peanuts at us instead of rice." Jane said it in a dreamy voice and the girls looked deep into each other's eyes. After a long silence Maura finally spoke.

"Can I come?" She asked sweetly.

Jane smiled at Maura. "Maybe." Jane said in a mocking tone and looked at the ceiling.

Neither of the girls said anything for a while and Jane thought Maura had maybe fallen asleep.

"Jane? Are you awake?"

"Yes."

"I just wanted you to know, that you have made my life so much better. Ever since we became friends I have woken up with a smile and looked forward to go to school. I used to dread it every single day and wait for the holidays." Maura said and looked into Jane's eyes. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Jane Rizzoli."

Jane blushed. This was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her. She didn't know how to respond.

"Well Maura Isles, ever since we became friends I have been more open minded about everything. You make me want to be a better person. Emily sometimes used to force me to do things I didn't want to do but you, I would do anything for you. You are also the best thing that ever happened to me."

Maura moved closer to Jane and Jane's head started spinning. She got butterflies in her stomach as Maura moved her lips closer to Jane's face. Jane closed her eyes and waited for Maura to kiss her.

Maura gave Jane a quick peck on the cheek and then moved back to her spot on the bed really quickly.

"Well, when you get married Jane, I better be your maid of honor."

"Yeah. I guess." Jane looked back at the ceiling.

"Good night Jane."

"Good night Maura."

Jane closed her eyes and thought about her wedding fantasy. Normally when she thought about it, the groom was always a baseball player, but not tonight. In this wedding fantasy, she was getting married to Maura.


	13. Wake Me Up

_Sorry that I posted this chapter two days ago and removed it but I just wasn't happy about it so I decided to rewrite it. It's so much better now and to make it up to you I posted two chapters. I've also come up with a great new story and I might start that soon, but I love this one and I am so not giving up on it nearly yet. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 13 - Wake Me Up**

When Jane woke up the morning after she could feel some extra weight on her chest. She opened her eyes and saw that Maura was fast asleep and accidentally had put her right hand over Jane's chest. Jane couldn't move and was afraid to breathe. Maura was lying there so peacefully and Jane didn't want to wake her up. Jane felt awful though. Yesterday she had fantasized about getting married to Maura. She clearly had some feelings for her that she obviously had to get out of her head. She needed to talk to Steve.

"_Thank god for the hockey practice at one o'clock." _Jane thought and hoped Steve would show up. He would be the only one that could help her get over these silly feelings that Jane had for Maura. Jane wanted them to go away and everything to go back to normal.

Jane had been lying completely still for about ten minutes when she realized how badly her knee itched. She really needed to scratch it but was afraid she'd wake up Maura. At the end she gave up and moved so she could scratch. Maura didn't wake up, but she moved. She turned on her side and put both hands on top of Jane.

Jane sort of liked the way it felt but then she remembered that Maura was her friend and for Jane to get rid of her feelings she couldn't let situation like these happen. Jane turned on her side and hoped Maura would wake up to that.

Jane turned her head to see if Maura was still sleeping, and surprisingly enough, she was still sleeping. Jane then gave up and decided to just get out of the bed.

Jane usually didn't sleep in too long but on a Saturday morning, Jane was surprised she was up by nine o'clock. It must have been just because Jane had never spent the night in the Isles household and she wasn't used to it.

Jane decided to get dressed and brush her teeth and she wasn't really subtle and hoped Maura would wake up.

When she got back from the bathroom Maura was still fast asleep. Jane had no idea how to wake her up. She was obviously not a light sleeper like Jane.

Jane could be really grumpy in the morning if she went to bed too late but still, she always woke up to the slightest movement and the softest sound. Maura just slept and slept, even though Jane accidentally knocked down her bag with a loud sound.

Jane then gave up and decided to try to wake Maura by shaking her a little.

"Maura? It's morning. Time to wake up." Jane said, sitting on the bed next to Maura.

"Mmph, so tired." Maura squeezed out and turned on her other side.

"Seriously Maura, I've been up for about half an hour and you just sleep like a beer through winter."

"Yeah. Just ssssssh." Maura said.

"Excuse me? You did not just 'ssssh's me?" Jane asked, a little bit offended.

"Ssssssh."

"I don't like it when people sssshs me! My mother does it, and I don't need it from you too."

"You talk too much. Just ssssh."

"Okay, that's it." Jane stood up. "If you're not out of the bed when I get back, I will pour over you a bucket of ice water."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yeah? Just watch me." Jane said and walked out of the room.

Maura was so tired. And she was having the nicest dream. She and Jane working together in the future and still being best friends. Maura just wanted to go back to sleep. The dream was so nice and reassuring.

"Okay then. Get ready to get soaked."

Maura jumped out of the bed immediately when Jane approached the room again.

"Are you crazy? You were really going to wake me up like that?"

"Yes. You were sleeping so fast and I was bored, I needed you to keep me company." They looked into each other's eyes for a while until Jane suddenly looked away. "And also I needed you to come with me down to the kitchen because I'm starving."

"Fine." Maura said and followed Jane to the kitchen.

Maura's parents were having breakfast when the girls came down. Jane was glad she had gotten dressed, because that could have been really uncomfortable.

"Morning girls."

"Morning father, mother." Maura answered her father.

"Morning darling. Did you sleep well?" Her mother asked.

"Yes I did mother. Thank you for asking."

"I'm glad. You girls just have some breakfast, your father and me are finished. Enjoy." Constance said as she left the room and Harold followed.

"Your parents don't eat breakfast with you or did you just get downstairs too late?"

"They hardly ever eat breakfast with me."

"That's nice. A quiet breakfast, where you can just eat peacefully and get over the morning grumpiness by yourself."

"I don't know. It gets pretty lonely."

Maura seemed sad, but Jane was afraid to touch her. She decided to change the subject instead.

"Well, I don't know about you but I think I'll have some yogurt." She looked around the table. "And maybe a bagel."

"I think I'll just have a bagel with cream cheese."

"Sounds delicious. Me too."

Jane tried to avoid eye contact and kept her distance from Maura during breakfast. But after a while she could feel Maura staring at her and

"You're awfully quiet Jane. Is something wrong?"

"No nothing at all. I just like a quiet breakfast. I don't get that at home."

"I see. So what are we doing today?"

"Well I have hockey practice at one. You're welcome to come watch, but I don't think you'll like it."

"How are you getting there?"

"I don't know, I'll probably just run. All my stuff is at the rink so I don't need to bring anything, I can just go like this. It's a great warm up anyway."

"Are you sure? My father can definitely give you a ride."

"No, it's fine. It's good for me."

"Okay then."

Everything went quiet again, even when they were putting their plates away and walking upstairs.

When they got to Maura's room, Jane focused really hard on avoiding Maura.

"Uh Jane… This might seem bizarre, but if something was wrong… You would tell me? Wouldn't you?"

"Of course." Jane said without making eye contact.

"Fine."

Maura turned on the TV and started surfing through the channels. Jane picked up her phone and started playing with it. She could feel Maura look at her every now and then though but resisted looking back.

"Well, I guess I should get going. See you after practice Maura."

"Yeah. Bye Jane."

Jane hurried downstairs and couldn't wait to get outside. She needed to clear her head, and the best way to do that was by running.

She started slowly, but in the end she was almost sprinting, so she arrived at the hockey rink about half an hour before practice.

"You're here early." Steve said and startled Jane.

"Uh, yeah. I really need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"You were right about Maura, and I need it to be not true. Can you help me?"

"What?"

"I like Maura like a friend, but also something more than that. If you tell anyone I will haunt you down and kill you. You're the only one who knows."

"I wouldn't count on that."

"What? Who did you tell?" Jane said furious and attacked Steve and threw him against the wall.

"Nobody, I swear. But it was actually Casey who pointed it out to me."

"What?" Jane released him.

"Casey asked me if I thought you guys looked like a couple, but I didn't really see it, so I decided to just ask you."

"Crap. But seriously, I want these feelings away, and you have to help me."

"What do you mean?"

"I just want to be her friend, that's just what she wants from me. Since I lost Emily to Debbie and Kate, Maura is all I've got."

Steve coughed softly to make her notice him.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry Steve, as awesome as you are, I want a girl space friend too."

"A space girlfriend?"

"No you idiot. A friend who's a girl, not a girlfriend."

"It's so confusing that they have the same words over these totally different things."

"You're telling me." Jane said and they went inside and sat down. "But what can I do to get rid of these feelings?"

"Well, maybe you should spend less time with her, just for a while, and more time with me and Casey then. Maybe you'll fall back in love with me."

"Dream on." Jane said with much confident.

"Do you think you have feelings for girls?" Steve asked and that made Jane think. She had never really thought about it, but it wasn't the idea of her being gay that freaked her out but just the idea of falling in love with her best friend. She hadn't given it much thought so maybe she was, but maybe she wasn't.

"I don't know, I just, really, I don't know. I don't really care, I just don't want to be in love with Maura."

"I see." Steve said and looked away with a thinking look on his face. "Well, like I said, spend less time with her, but you know, if you want to keep her as your friend, you just have to subtle about it."

"I guess."

"And stop all these meaningful looks you give each other all the time."

Jane knew exactly what Steve was talking about. Sometimes Jane got lost staring into Maura's big, beautiful, hazel eyes.

"Oh yeah! I've actually been avoiding eye contact with her all morning."

"But Jane, you have to be subtle about this if you don't want her finding out."

"Relax Steve, I got this."

But Jane didn't really have it. Maura had already noticed that Jane was avoiding eye contact and she knew something was wrong.

"Try not to touch her a lot or stay too close to her. It's okay if you're like sitting next to her in class or something, but like no holding hands or sitting together watching a movie."

That would actually be rather tough to do without Maura becoming suspicious since Jane was staying in her house over the weekend and also sharing her bed.

"Uhm, that might be a little hard."

"Why?"

"Because I'm sleeping in her bed this weekend."

"Oh my. Well, then after the weekend." Steve was really brainstorming and he got a lot of great ideas.

"Try to focus on her flaws, you know, the tiniest things. Try to find something wrong with everything she does."

"Won't that just make me hate her?"

"Maybe, but you just have to remember that you want to be her friend, and that's it."

"I guess."

"Try to distract yourself by finding someone else." He looked at Jane. "Like me."

"Seriously Steve, give it up."

"But Emily said you had the biggest crush on me."

"Yeah, and that was a long time ago, when I was a stupid little girl."

Jane looked at Steve. It was true, she had had an enormous crush on him for many years, and when suddenly he kisses her those feelings all just disappear. How could that happen?

Jane was confused. Steve was really handsome and also a really nice guy with a great body. Jane liked him as a friend and that's how she wanted it to be.

"Well, it looks like we have to go in now but still, think about this, and just focus really hard. You are so awesome Jane, you can do anything you want."

"Thank you Steve, so much for all you've done." Even though Jane wasn't the biggest hugger in the world she decided to give Steve a hug. When she let go he looked at her like he was asking her if that meant she would go for him but Jane just pushed him gently away and said.

"Not a chance!"


	14. Just Friends

**Chapter 14 - Just friends**

_How to get rid of all your feelings for Maura and become just friends._

_**Step 1**_

_Try to avoid eye contact, and especially the long meaningful ones you have with her almost every day._

When Jane got home from hockey practice, she went to Maura and pretended everything was alright between them, but tried really carefully, not look straight into her eyes.

At first it worked out great and she was really subtle, or at least she thought she was. It wasn't until bed time that Maura was trying really hard to reach eye contact with Jane but when Jane just closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep Maura gave up and fell asleep herself.

_**Step 2**_

_Spend less time with her_

The next two weeks Jane tried to be subtle about how she told Maura she wasn't able to spend time with her. She complained about too much homework, but really she didn't have that much. She also lied about chores or having to babysit.

On Thursday, when Jane said she would have to spend the whole week babysitting, Maura offered her help and that really freaked Jane out. She came up with some lie about how busy they'd be and Jane wouldn't have any time to spend with Maura. Then, Maura said she didn't care about that. She just wanted to spend time with Jane.

Jane was about to give in and tell her the truth, when Steve showed up and saved Jane.

"Sorry Maura, we're going to practice hard this weekend, she won't have the time. Believe me, she's always complaining how awful these practices are and that she has never got any time to spend with you." He then mimicked Jane and made his voice sound girly. "How much time is this gonna take? I haven't seen my friend in a week."

"I sound nothing like that." Jane said, a little offended.

"Actually, sometimes you do." Maura said and giggled.

At least Maura didn't ask Jane again, to spend the weekend with her, so Jane felt safe for a little while.

During the time she was without Maura she was often really bored. She was almost constantly thinking about her and about the things they could be doing together instead of Jane having to hang out by herself, all this time.

Sometimes she distracted herself by playing with her brothers or hanging out with Casey and Steve. That was really nice but she always missed Maura.

"I can see that you miss her." Steve said on Friday.

"It's been almost two weeks since I've spent any time with her."

"Are your feelings changing in any way?"

"I think they might be getting stronger, because I miss her so badly."

"Jane! You have to focus!"

Steve was right. She shouldn't be thinking about Maura. If she was thinking about her she should just focus on her flaws.

_**Step 3**_

_Focus on her flaws_

Whenever Jane found herself thinking about Maura or missing her, she started focusing on her flaws. At first it was really hard. When she thought about Maura, she seemed perfect and like she didn't have any flaws.

Jane then decided that maybe it would be better if they'd start hanging out again so Jane could focus on her flaws and wouldn't have to miss her so badly all the time.

When two weeks had passed of Jane spending hardly any time with Maura, she decided to ask her to come home to Jane's house after school on Monday. Maura seemed ecstatic when Jane asked her and they almost had a meaningful eye contact but Jane then looked away quickly and changed the subject.

When Maura came to Jane's house, Jane started to look for flaws. Maybe it was a flaw that Jane's mother often seemed to like Maura more than Jane, but who could blame her. Maura was the perfect daughter.

Sometimes it could be really annoying, how polite Maura always seemed. When someone cut in front of her in the line at the cafeteria, she excused herself and just waited patiently. But if someone dared to cut in front of Jane while she was waiting for food, she got furious and kicked them to the back of the line.

Jane wasn't sure if that was a flaw. Jane's reaction was actually more like a flaw than Maura's. Maybe Jane should be more like Maura and try not to overreact over the tiniest things all the time.

The way Maura always said mother and father instead of mom and dad or ma and pops like Jane called hers.

How Maura always corrected everybody. She was very subtle about it, but still, when Jane was pissed off, she could get furious if somebody corrected her.

How she always wanted to pause in the middle of the movie to go to the bathroom.

When she was trying to calm Jane down and talked to her like she was a baby.

When she complained about her lifestyle.

Maura obviously had lots of flaws, but Jane actually had to try really hard, not to hit Maura, when she had discovered all her annoying habits.

She decided to tone it down a little bit and try to focus on somebody else.

_**Step 4**_

_Find someone else to have feelings for_

Jane tried really hard to find someone she liked. In the end she decided that maybe she and Casey could be more then friends. He was hot and also really nice. He was funny and shared all the same interests as Jane.

When three weeks had passed since Jane started this process, she had decided to try to flirt with Casey.

"Hey Casey. What are you doing this weekend?" She said, trying to flirt.

"Hey Jane, why are you being weird?" Steve then asked.

"Actually nothing special. Why do you ask? You have something in mind?"

"I was wandering if maybe we should go see a movie together."

"Sure Jane, is there any special movie you have in mind?"

Jane hadn't thought about that. Maybe a romantic comedy could be a success. Jane wasn't a big fan of drama or just romantic films. She was the biggest fan of action and superhero movies. She was also into horror films but comedy, that was for everybody.

"I don't know. Maybe some comedy. I will check the schedule tonight and then we can talk tomorrow."

"Sure Jane." Casey said with a smile and tried to stare deep into Jane's eyes. She tried to stare back but it just felt awkward so she left and Steve followed.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously what?"

"You're choosing him?" Steve was shocked.

"Choosing him what?"

"Jane, as horrible as this flirting was, it was still pretty obvious what you were trying to do."

"Yeah, so?"

"Why do you want Casey more than me?"

"Because I've already tried you and it didn't work, sorry bro."

"Screw you." Steve said in a soft voice, not mad, just as a pretend rage.

"Not in a million years." Jane answered and left Steve alone.

She started thinking about the date, and how she maybe should try to look her absolute best. She would definitely need Maura's help though.

_**Step 5**_

_Try to avoid too much physical contact._

When Jane told Maura that she was having a date with Casey, Maura seemed thrilled. Jane felt like a needle got stuck in her heart when she saw how happy Maura was about the date.

Jane asked for Maura's help to get ready and Maura jumped up in excitement.

"Oh my gosh. Jane this is so exciting. I've been looking at you two for the past month and wandering when in lord's name he was going to ask you out."

Jane was confused, she hadn't really been showing any signs that she liked Casey, or at least not on purpose. She liked him as a friend, and even though she wasn't really hoping they would become more than friends, Jane knew she needed them to.

"Jane, I know you hate dresses, but I was purchasing a dress the other day and saw this one. It didn't cost much so I decided to buy it, it's for you." She picked out the most beautiful dress Jane had ever seen. It was black and just seemed pretty normal. It wasn't one of those long dresses or extra fancy ones, it was just like a normal, but a really pretty dress, that Jane would definitely consider wearing. "You don't have to wear it, but I would love if you would try it on for me. I just know you will look gorgeous wearing it."

Whenever Maura said things like that, Jane felt like this happy shiver throughout her body.

"Okay, I'll try it on."

"Here, let me help you." Maura moved closer to Jane and started helping her undressing. Jane felt awkward. She wasn't supposed to let Maura touch her, so she moved away really quickly and said she would prefer doing it on her own. Maura seemed awkward and also a little sad when Jane moved away.

"I'm sorry Maura, I'm just insecure about my body so I don't want you to see me half naked."

"Why on earth are you insecure? You've got the greatest body I've ever seen."

Oh Maura and her compliments. All Jane wanted to was to grab Maura and kiss her.

"I don't know, but I'll just go change in the bathroom." Jane said, grabbed the dress and walked into Maura's bathroom.

She told herself off in her head for not focusing on the plan. She tried to distract herself by thinking about her date with Casey. She wasn't really looking forward to it, but it would be fun to go see a movie, and Casey was a great friend.

When Jane had put the dress on, she looked in the mirror and thought she had never looked as pretty as she did at that moment. The dress looked fabulous on her and really showed off her great body. Jane often looked in the mirror and all she could think about was how awful she always looked compared to the other girls. She didn't really care about it normally but, that dress, she should wear it every day.

When she walked out of the bathroom, Maura gasped.

"Wow Jane, this dress fits you so perfectly. You look stunning."

In her head, Jane tried to argue: "_no Jane, she is not saying she has a crush on you, she is simply complimenting you as a friend."_

"Thank you. Wow Maura. You really bought this dress for me?"

"It doesn't fit me. You have to keep it Jane. And you have to wear it tonight. Casey is going to love it."

"You don't think he'll laugh at me and tell me I look weird?"

"No Jane. Casey is a gentleman. Steve would maybe do that, but not Casey. I bet he won't be able to take his eyes off you."

"Yeah, I guess." Jane said awkwardly.

"And that's what you want, right?"

"I guess."

"Jane, I feel like I'm more excited about this date than you."

"Maybe. I think I'm just nervous. I've never been on a real date before." Jane was lying, she wasn't nervous, she just wished that she was going on a date with Maura instead of Casey.

She tried to think about Maura's flaws and everything that she had practiced in the past three weeks, but she couldn't help but to look at Maura's gorgeous eyes and wish she could kiss her.

"Don't be Jane. You'll be fine."

"You think so?"

"I know so." Maura said and comforted Jane, who didn't move away when Maura touched her but simply let her. "And I want every detail as soon as you get home."

Jane chuckled.

"Fine. I'll call you when I get home."

"Can I put some make up on you?" Maura asked softly. "Or do you think that will be too much?"

"Maybe you can put on some, but just a little. No gooey stuff or lipstick. Maybe just something around the eyes."

"Eyeliner, eye shadow and a mascara. Just a small amount though. I promise."

Jane sat down and let Maura do her make-up. Even though she hated make up, she really liked the way Maura did it, and when she was finished, Jane looked even prettier than she did before.

"Can I take a picture of you before you go?"

"Okay. But only if you're in it with me."

Maura smiled and picked up her phone. She turned on the front camera and took a picture of them both together.

They were smiling at the camera and they both looked amazing.

"But Jane, I can hardly see the dress on this picture. Can I please take another one, of just you?"

"Okay. But don't even dare posting it on facebook."

"I won't."

Maura then took the picture and showed it to Jane. Jane couldn't help but to feel a little proud of the way she looked.

"Well, good luck Jane, and call me when you get home."

"Thank you Maura, and I promise." Jane said at Maura's front door when she was about to leave.

She smiled, but she still wished that Maura was her date for tonight instead of Casey.

These past three weeks had obviously not worked, and if anything, Jane's feelings were getting stronger. She just had to hope that Casey would be able to change things.


	15. Maybe

_I guess I lost some fans the other day… Oopsies. Well… I just am a fan of the slow burn and having some bumps in the way. Thank you for all the reviews though and for following this story. Enjoy._

**Chapter 15 - Maybe**

Jane was a little bit nervous about her date and she didn't realize that until she saw Casey standing outside the cinema.

"Hey Casey."

"Uh wow. You look, uhm, gorgeous."

"Thank you." Jane felt awkward. This was way worse than she thought.

He paid both their tickets, even though Jane had asked him out. She paid the popcorn and drinks instead.

They didn't talk a lot and just went straight inside and sat down.

While watching the movie, Jane could feel Casey looking at her every now and then. She never looked at him back and tried to focus on the movie instead. It was hard for her and she couldn't wait for it to be over.

After the movie was finished, they walked out to the parking lot.

"My mom is picking me up. Do you want a ride home?"

Jane didn't have a ride home so she happily took his offer.

They just stood there, in complete silent for a while. Jane felt awkward but she felt like Casey enjoyed it. He then walked closer to her, moved his head to hers and pressed his lips softly against Jane's.

She tried really hard to enjoy the kiss but somehow it just felt so wrong.

"I'm sorry Casey." Jane said awkwardly and moved away.

"No I'm sorry Jane. I shouldn't have done that. I know you're not into me."

"What?"

"Come on Jane, it's so obvious. You're head over heels in love with Maura."

"Uh, how do you know."

"It's just so obvious Jane."

"Oh god. Do you think she knows?" Jane was panicking all of a sudden.

"As smart as she is, I really think she has no idea."

Jane sighed in relief.

"But what can I do? There is no way she is into me that way? I've been trying really hard to get over these feelings for the past month, but they've grown stronger if anything. What can I do? Steve already helped me, but that didn't work."

"Jane. You shouldn't have to hide your feelings. You just have to find out if Maura feels the same way about you. You don't know for sure that she doesn't feel the same way. And if she doesn't, who better to help you get over these feelings but Maura herself."

"How do I know if she feels the same way? I don't just ask her point blank"

"No, you can be subtle. You just have to look for the signs."

"She's always looking at me. Sometimes we have these long meaningful glances at each other. She's always complimenting me on my looks. I don't know."

"Maybe next time, when you are looking at each other, try moving closer, like you're about to kiss her, and see what she does about it."

"What if she doesn't do anything? Or what if she moves her head away?"

"Then you might just have to tell her how you feel."

"I guess." Jane felt bad. There was no way in hell that she'd ever want to tell Maura how she felt. "Thank you so much Casey, and sorry about tonight."

"You don't have to be sorry. I sort of knew what I was getting into but did it anyway."

Casey's mom then appeared and picked them up. She complimented Jane on her looks and drove her home. As badly as that night went, she was really looking forward to talk to Maura when she got home.

"Thank you Mrs. Jones." Jane said as she got out of the car

"Anytime Jane." Casey's mom said as she drove away.

Jane ran into her room and hoped her mother wouldn't see her wearing the dress. She always made Jane feel so uncomfortable when she wore dresses. She always said they most annoying things about it and Jane immediately wanted to take it off.

She made it upstairs without anyone seeing her and changed out of the dress in a real hurry and put on her pajamas.

She picked up her phone and called Maura immediately.

"Hi Jane. How was the date? Tell me everything."

How excited Maura was about this made Jane realize that Maura obviously didn't feel the same way.

"It was okay. I don't think I like him though."

"You don't?"

"No, I mean, I like him as a friend, but I think that's it."

"I see. Well, you're young anyway. You don't need to be in a committed relationship just yet, there is no urgency Jane."

"Well, I guess. I don't think I'm ready for this anyway." There was a long silence because Maura didn't respond. "Are you still there."

"Yes." Again there was this long silence. Jane wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to say goodbye but she had nothing to say. "Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a good friend."

"You too Maura."

"I'm happy."

"Me too."

"Should we meet tomorrow?"

"Yes, after hockey practice. It will be finished at two. You can come to my house at three."

"I'll see you then Jane."

"Yes see you." Jane didn't hang up the phone and Maura didn't either. "Are you still there?" Maura didn't answer but hung up instead.

Jane thought about that conversation. Maybe Maura did feel something for Jane. At least, Jane had changed her mind about the whole thing. She was determined to make Maura fall for her, and wouldn't give up until she would make the first move.

When Jane woke up the morning after, she decided to clean her room and make it look nice before Maura would come. She took all her dirty clothes off the floor and threw them in the hamper. She removed all leftovers she had accidentally forgotten to put in the bin and she also put all the things of the floor and her desk into their right places. She then picked out something nice to wear after practice, made her bed and put the clothes on top of it.

She finished cleaning up her room right before lunchtime so she hurried downstairs to get something to eat before practice.

"Hey ma?"

"Yes."

"Maura's coming over after practice, if she wants, can she maybe stay for dinner?"

"Sure. Maura is always welcome. Sometimes when we eat dinner together I feel like she's supposed to be part of us."

"Yes. She sure has made an impact of us all." Jane answered.

"And she has taught you to speak properly I hear."

"Dream on." Jane answered and finished her toast.

She was glad how well Maura was received by the family. If she and Maura would ever become an item, maybe her parents wouldn't mind so much.

"Well, I have to get going. See you ma. Thanks for lunch."

"Have fun Jane, and for the love of god, be careful."

"I promise. Bye." Jane said as she grabbed her stuff and ran out the door.

Man it was good to get out of the house. She was also looking forward to practice and had decided to tell both Steve and Casey about her new plan.

When Jane arrived, both Casey and Steve were already there, just standing in the hallway talking.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Jane." Both of them answered.

"I have a new plan for Maura."

"You do? What about my plan?" Steve said and sounded a little bit offended.

"No offense, but your plan sucked." Steve looked at her, pretending to be offended. "The new plan is, to just make her fall in love with me."

"And how exactly are you planning on doing that? You're not exactly…"

"Excuse me." Jane said rudely. "I am a catch. And just to remind you, you both have or had a crush on me, so..."

The boys snickered and told Jane she was right.

"Well, there is a school dance next Friday, maybe you should ask Maura to go with you. As friends of course."

"That's true, in the movies, high school dances seem to have some kind of magic."

"Are you girls just going to stand there talking?" Joey suddenly interrupted them and Jane got startled.

"Who are you calling a girl Grant?" Jane asked him rudely.

"At least not you." He looked at Jane. "Just these two."

"Oh buzz off Joey, we all know why you're always bugging us, and especially Jane."

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"Because you've been in love with her since kindergarten. Just for your information, she would never go for you in a million years. Just buzz off and find someone else to pick on." Casey said, defending Jane.

"Oh yeah? I wouldn't want to be seen with an ugly frog faced girl like her. I'm not surprised if she'll end up alone, collecting cats." Joey answered.

Jane wasn't sure which one of them was right. When Joey said those words it stung a little and Jane started to believe them.

"Yeah right. You'll be the one with the cats, Jane will have guys lining up for her. You'll be in the front of the line but she won't even look at you." Steve said.

Jane was happy she had good friends like Casey and Steve. They were such gentlemen. What a shame she wasn't into them, because they were both pretty perfect.

"Shut up you prick." Joey answered and looked like he was about to attack both of them. But then he heard the coach come in so he walked away. But Jane was sure that they were about to feel some rage on the rink.

During practice, Jane could feel how mad Joey was. Too bad for him, it didn't do him any good and he ended up hurt. He had sprained his knee, so he had to leave early.

Jane finished the practice happily and secretly hoped Joey wouldn't be able to play in few weeks. She got changed pretty quickly and rushed home. She was going to take a shower and change her clothes before Maura arrived.

She decided to hurry in the shower but she still took her time to put conditioner in her hair to make it softer and give it a nice smell. When she got out of the shower she brushed through it and even put on some moisturizer on her face. She was so determined to show Maura that she could look nice from time to time.

She then got dressed in some tight jeans and a nice T-shirt. She thought about putting on make-up, but she didn't know how to, so she decided that would have to wait.

When Jane felt like she was ready she went downstairs and decided to wait for Maura there.

Maura was always on time. Jane looked at the clock and watched as it became three, and then five minutes past, ten minutes past and until it was half past four. Jane decided to call Maura to see what was going on. She looked for her phone and realized it was in her bedroom upstairs. She ran to get it and saw she had three missed calls from Maura around three o'clock. She then also saw a text message from her, that she had sent at exactly three o'clock.

_Something came up. Won't be able to make it. Sorry. :(  
-Maura_

Jane was so sad when she read the message. She had gone through so much trouble to look nice for Maura and then she wasn't able to make it to her. Jane tried to call her to ask her what came up, but Maura had turned her phone off.

Jane lied down in her bed really sad and started thinking that this was a bad sign. Maybe she shouldn't try to go after Maura. She almost wanted to cry, but she hated crying so she decided not to and got up and went back downstairs instead.

"You look nice Jane." Angela said when she saw Jane. "Is something wrong honey?"

"Oh forget it. I just wanted to let you know that Maura is not coming to dinner so…"

"But why do you look so sad?"

"I'm not sad."

"Jane, you're my daughter. I know when you're sad."

"Fine. I'm just pissed that Maura wasn't able to make it, I don't even know why, and then her phone is turned off and I have no idea what is going on."

"I'm sorry honey. She'll probably call you when she has the change. Give her a break."

"Yeah, I know. It's just disappointing. I went through all that trouble and then she just doesn't show up."

"What trouble?"

Jane realized she had made a mistake. She didn't want her mother to find out what was going on. She wasn't ready to have that conversation.

"Uh… I just… You know, she's always complaining about the mess in my room so I decided to clean up a little."

"Jane? I know there's something you're not telling me."

"So? It's not like you need to know everything."

"When something serious is going on in your life, I have the right to know. At least for a few more years."

"Yeah, well I don't want to talk about it." Jane said and stood up and walked away.

"I know." Her mother then called out.

Jane stopped and turned around. She also looked around to see if her brothers were anywhere near, but then she remembered that her dad had taken them out.

"I know." Her mother said softer when she realized Jane had stopped. She also stood up and followed Jane, who stood frozen in the living room. "I know about your feelings for Maura?"

Jane blushed and felt awkward. She was obviously going to have that conversation with her mother now, no matter how she liked it.

"What feelings?"

"Honey. I've been watching the two of you together for the past months. You obviously like her more than a friend."

"And what if I do?" Jane asked her mother with a sad, nervous look on her face.

"It's okay Jane. You're still young, but you're also starting to grow up and have all sorts of feelings. I don't care if you fall in love with a girl or a boy, just if that person makes you happy Jane. Just know, that I have talked to your father about this, and he feels the same way. You have nothing to be afraid of, we will always love you."

Jane ran to her mom and gave her the biggest hug in the world. Jane was not a hugger, but hearing her mother say those words made her so extremely happy.

"Thank you." Was all Jane could say before she let go.

"Just be who you are sweetheart. I have for long accepted that you don't want to wear dresses and you'd rather play sports than shop for clothes. You are a great girl Jane Rizzoli, and Maura would be more than lucky to have you."

"But I'm just so afraid that she doesn't like me that way."

"If anyone can make her see how great you are, that is you. Don't rush into anything, just take it slow and in the end you can tell her how you feel."

"I love you so much ma, I hope you know that." She hugged her mom again. "I wouldn't want to trade lives with Maura at all."

Angela smiled. She also loved her daughter no matter what and just wanted her to be happy.


	16. I'm there for you

**Chapter 16 - I'm There For You**

Jane was happy she had talked to her mother. She was happy to know that her parents would accept her no matter what. She still wasn't sure about her sexuality but she knew that she was madly in love with Maura.

Saturday seemed to pass slower than any other Saturday. Jane tried calling Maura every hour but she always just got the voicemail right away. She hoped everything was alright though and hoped that she would be able to reach her in the morning. She gave up at midnight when she still hadn't gotten an answer.

When Jane woke up the morning after she jumped out of bed and called Maura immediately. The phone rang so Maura had obviously turned it on. The phone rang and Maura didn't answer. Then some lady voice, said something in French before the voice message came.

Maura had gone to France without telling Jane? What the hell was going on? She decided not to leave a message, because that would definitely be expensive if Maura truly was in France. She just hoped that she'd call her back soon and tell her what was going on.

Jane decided to go downstairs and try to distract herself from this Maura business. Why the hell would she go to France just like that? Jane was so confused.

"Morning Jane."

"Morning ma."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I called Maura as soon as I woke up and I think she is in France?"

"In France? The country?"

"Yeah. I called her but she didn't answer and then I heard some lady speak French before the voice message came."

"Well, something must have happen. Maura is definitely okay, but maybe something happened in her family or something with their family business. Her parents are always travelling so you shouldn't worry about it. She'll probably fill you in sooner rather than later."

Jane relaxed a little bit. Her mother was right. Maura had at least turned her phone on, so she must be alright.

"It's just so annoying to not know what's going on."

"How do you think I feel when you're playing hockey or baseball? Always worrying."

"There you go, make it about you like always."

"I'm just saying Jane, you worry about her like I worry about you."

That was true. Jane was worried sick. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything until she'd know what was going on with Maura.

Then she realized, maybe Maura had internet connection over there so she could contact her through Facebook. Jane turned her laptop on in a hurry and opened Facebook. She was disappointed when she found out she didn't have a message from Maura.

She decided to write to her though and hoped she'd see it.

_Hey Maura._

_Just wanted to check on you. Are you in France? Please tell me what's going on, I'm going crazy over here._

_- Jane._

Jane pressed send and waited for a response. She also kept her phone in close range in case she'd call.

Jane was just about to close her laptop after having waited for almost an hour but then Maura suddenly popped up on the chat.

_Hello Jane._

_Sorry for leaving just like that and not tell you anything. Yes I am in France. My aunt suddenly got in an accident so my mom had to rush over here to make sure she was alright and also to make sure the business would be fine. She wanted to bring me with her in case that would be the last time I'd see her. She might not recover so I will stay here for a little while. Maybe we can talk on Skype or just here until I come back. Miss you already._

_-Maura_

Jane was devastated. She knew how much Maura loved her aunt in France and just hoped she'd be alright. Also now she knew that Maura would miss the dance next Friday so Jane got even sadder.

_I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt. I hope she recovers. Miss you too, but glad to know you're alright. Hope to see you soon._

Jane pressed send but decided not to wait for a response from Maura so she closed Facebook and turned off her laptop. She walked downstairs again and her mother was still in the kitchen.

"Maura's aunt got in an accident."

"Oh, how awful." Angela said with compassion.

"I know. And Maura might stay there for a while. She has no idea when she'll be back."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry."

Jane disliked it when her mother called her sweetie, honey or something like that. But she decided not argue her on that now.

"She'll be back before you know it. Just think of the technology you kids have nowadays. You can talk to her every day through the computer and get an update."

"I guess." Jane said a little mopey.

She got herself a banana and ate it slowly while sulking and thinking about Maura. She thought about how lame it would be to go to the dance without her so she decided to just not go at all. She didn't even like school dances, she just wanted to go to maybe have a chance with Maura,

"Well, I guess I'll try to distract myself. Maybe I'll play a little basketball with the boys."

"Do that honey."

"Ma please!" Jane said in frustration.

"What?"

"Stop with the nicknames."

"Sorry dar… Jane."

Jane rolled her eyes and left the room. She found her brothers playing a video game in the living room.

"Hey guys."

"Don't talk. I'm about to beat him." Tommy said a little tense, focusing hard on his videogame.

"Dream on." Frankie said and sounded cocky.

Jane watched them play some silly game where the goal was to kill monsters or something like that. Jane wasn't a big fan of those kinds of games. She preferred sports games like baseball, hockey or soccer.

The game was finished and Tommy had surprisingly beat Frankie. He bragged and showed off. Jane didn't mind but Frankie was a sore loser. That's why he preferred playing with Tommy, because he usually won.

"I just let you win so you'd stop being like baby when you lost."

"And I'm being a baby? You're pretending to let me win because you're such a sore loser."

"Seriously guys, it's a dumb game anyway. You wanna play basketball?"

The boys stopped fighting and jumped out of the couch when Jane asked them. Jane almost never played with them anymore, at least not since Maura came around. The boys became closer though and Jane realized how much she had missed. She and Frankie always used to be best buddies and plot to make Tommy suffer.

Once they tied him to a chair and left him there for hours. Their mom got furious when she found out, and since then, if Tommy complained just a little bit, it was always their fault and they were the bad guys.

"I'm just gonna change clothes, and it seems like you guys should put on some clothes." Because both of the boys were still just wearing their pajamas.

Jane ran upstairs and decided to check on Facebook again to see if Maura answered.

_I knew I could count on you to make me smile. You are my best friend Jane. Knowing I always have you to lean on makes me smile, even in the darkest times. Hope you'll update me on life in Boston. I'll tell you about France instead. Send my best wishes to your family._

Jane smiled. Jane decided to write Maura after she'd played with her brothers. She missed Maura a lot, but knowing that Maura missed her too made her feel happy and it started feeling alright to miss her.

Jane had changed into more comfortable set of clothing so she was ready to take her brothers down.

"It's November my darlings, you have to dress warmer."

"Ma? How do you expect us to dress warm when we're playing basketball? We'll be way to hot." Tommy whined.

"Okay then sweetheart. Go have fun." Angela said and kissed Tommy on the cheek. "And you two, you better behave and be nice to your brother."

Jane and Frankie both rolled their eyes. If Tommy would come crying in, no matter what had happened, their mother would blame it on them and tell them off.

Jane enjoyed playing with her brothers. She was way taller than the both of them so it was easier for her. She saw that they were getting way better though, and soon they'd probably be better than her. She decided to give it all she got because, in just a while, they would definitely beat her.

They were really getting into the game when Jane accidentally elbowed Tommy in the nose and it started bleeding. He of course ran crying inside.

"Jane Clémentine Rizzoli!" Angela said furious. "You broke your baby brother's nose? How dare you be so reckless? He's just a kid."

"I'm sorry ma." Jane said, trying to fake regret. "We were just having fun and all of a sudden I accidentally elbow him. I swear, I didn't do it on purpose."

"Yeah? Well that's it for today. You can go to your room young lady and think about what you've done."

Jane wanted to fight her mother on this, but since Angela had been so understanding yesterday, Jane felt like she couldn't. She decided to do as her mother told her and she apologized to Tommy before she left.

She walked upstairs slowly and she decided to write to Maura about what had happened.

_Oh, you always say the nicest things Maura. I hope you can find a way to enjoy France even though you're just visiting it because of something horrible.  
Today I was really bored so I decided to ask my brother's to play basketball. It was really fun, until I accidentally elbowed Tommy in the nose, and broke it. He ran in crying so ma got mad at me. She even middle named me. I hate it when she does that! Well, she sent me to my room so I decided to just write to you. I suppose you have your schoolwork under control, but if there's anything you want me to do for you, just name it._

Jane pressed send and hoped she wouldn't have to wait to long for a response. Maybe they could even talk on Skype. She put her laptop away though and tried focusing on her homework while waiting for a reply from Maura.

She picked up all her books and was just about to solve her first math question when she heard a beep from her laptop.

_France is always lovely. I'll definitely find something to make me happy here. It's snowing here already and that's nice. I'm sorry about Tommy, and even though I usually don't pick sides, I hope your mother will be fair and not punish you. I have all my schoolwork set. My mom is going to call the principal tomorrow so it will be alright. Thank you though. And the same for you Jane!_

Jane smiled. Thank god Maura didn't ask for her middle name though, Jane really didn't want it to get out that her middle name was Clémentine. It was the worst name in history and Jane was certainly going to change it as soon as she could. Yuck.

Frankie then interrupted Jane in the middle of her thoughts by knocking on the door.

"Come in." She called out.

"Hey Jane."

"Hey Frankie. Did ma send you up here too?"

"Nah. I just wanted to check on you." He sat down on her bed. "Nice game by the way. And just so you know, I'm going to beat you someday."

"I'd like to see you try." Jane said and pushed him gently. After a long silence, Frankie suddenly spoke.

"So what's going on with you? Since you started high school I have hardly seen you around."

"Yeah, well. You'll get it in two years."

"I just miss you Jane. We used to hang out all the time, and now you never seem interested."

"Oh Frankie, I'll always want to play with you. I'm just going through some stuff right now. You know, you can always ask me if I want to come out. You don't always have to wait for me to offer." Jane said happily.

"That's nice. I hope we'll do this again soon."

"I'd like that too."

"I'm just gonna go to my room now."

"Yeah. See you at dinner."


	17. Dress or Pants?

I hit a short dry spell and was in no mood to write. I don't really fancy this chapter but I decided to post it anyway, maybe I'll change it but this was actually the ending I was going for. I just have to wait for another week where I want to write constantly, I like those!

**Chapter 17 - Dress or Pants?**

"I don't want to go."

"Come on Jane. Everyone's going." Steve said

"Not everyone." Jane said and meant Maura.

"Well if she's not going, I'm not going either." Casey said

"What? Why?"

"Because dances are lame, and I was just going to go to support you and see how it would go with Maura." Casey answered.

"I'm not gonna go all alone!"

"Fine. So no one's going." Jane said a little grumpy.

She knew the guys were trying to trick her to go, but she really didn't want to. It would be no fun without Maura.

"Fine by me. I wanted to play video games anyway."

"You guys are so lame. I think I'll go to the dance and make some new friends." Steve said, got up and left. Jane looked at Casey who rolled his eyes.

"Oh poor Steve."

"You mean it? Do you not want to go?"

"Yeah. It's not really my scene."

"Mine either. But Steve's kind of right, we're definitely the only ones who aren't going."

"Are you changing your mind?"

"I don't know. It's just, I've never been to a high school dance before. Maybe I shouldn't judge it before I check it out."

"You change your mind pretty quickly."

"Yeah, I'm still thinking about it though." Jane looked into the ceiling and it was a while before Casey said anything.

"When did you last talk to Maura?"

"I didn't talk to her at all yesterday, so Wednesday." Jane said grumpy.

"Do you have any idea when she's coming back?"

"Nope. She doesn't either."

"I see." Casey started looking at the ceiling as well and wasn't sure if he should say something else. "Well, let me know if you decide to go, because then I'll go to."

"Yeah. Maybe we should just go together. As friends of course." Jane added a little awkward.

"I would like that." Casey answered.

The bell rang and Jane rushed to class. She wasn't really looking forward to the weekend, she just wanted the days to pass until Maura came back. This week seemed to be endless and Jane always looked at an empty seat next to her, thinking about Maura.

When school was finished, Jane rushed home and checked on Facebook to see if Maura had replied to the email she sent on Wednesday.

Jane was disappointed when she saw that her inbox was empty and Maura hadn't even seen it.

_School is soooo boring without you.  
When are you coming back?  
I miss you so much!  
There's this school dance on Friday  
and I was hoping we could go together  
because I don't like these dances,  
but with you, maybe they could be fun.  
Hurry home!_

Jane closed her laptop and lied down on her bed. She thought about what she could do to make the time pass quicker. She then decided that she might as well go to the dance, rather than just sit at home doing nothing, or basically just wait for Maura. Maybe Casey and Steve could cheer her up.

"Hey Casey."

"Hey Jane."

"I've decided that I'm going to go."

"Great. Then I'm going too."

"Awesome. See you there."

"Bye Jane."

She hung up the phone and looked at her watch. It was only five o'clock so she had plenty of time to get ready. She went downstairs and got herself something to eat. She found some cookies and grabbed an apple too. On her way back to her room she ran into her mother.

"Oh hello Jane. I didn't realize you were home yet."

"Yeah, sorry, just ran straight up to my room."

"I see. What are you doing tonight?"

"Uh, I was thinking about going to the school dance."

Angela had to be really careful. If she'd get to excited about it, it might repel Jane and she'd change her mind.

"That's great. Are you going with anyone?"

"Just Casey." She looked at her mother who seemed confused. "As friends of course."

"I see. Well, do you have anything to wear?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what are you going to wear? Are you going like this?"

Jane looked at herself. She was wearing ripped and dirty old jeans and an old grey T-shirt that had old mustard and ketchup stains.

"Well, maybe not this, but I don't know. What should I wear?"

"What about a dress?"

"Ma! You know how much I hate dresses."

"I know, and that makes me feel bad, you know. It's just for one night. You can show your classmates how different you can be from time to time."

"I don't know. I don't have any dresses."

"What about the black one I found in your closet the other day? Whose dress is that?"

Angela was right. The dress Maura gave her. Jane didn't really want to wear it tonight though, tonight wouldn't be special without Maura.

"I don't know."

"I can even put some make-up on you. Not much. Just maybe something around your eyes? I promise, no lipstick. I can also fix your hair up."

"Ma! You know I hate all this stuff. Maybe I just shouldn't go."

"No Jane, you definitely should. You don't have to wear a dress or make-up, but sometimes I just wish I could put make-up on you."

"Yeah. If Maura was going I would want to look my best, but I sort of don't care."

"You should though. This could be like your practice one, without Maura." Angela said casually.

"Yeah. Fine. You can put make-up on me then. But just this once."

Angela smiled and felt happy. Jane didn't seem to be do it just to make Angela happy, maybe she was coming around and would want to wear make-up. Jane then went on to take a shower but came downstairs when she was ready and let Angela put make-up on her.

"And maybe you're right. I should wear the dress ma. Thank you." Jane said with a smile on her face, and now she was almost looking forward to the dance.

Angela put eye-liner and mascara on Jane's eyes. She even put just a hint of blue eye-shadow too. Jane then went to her room and put on her dress. She looked in the mirror and smiled. She was having a surprisingly good hair day and that dress really showed off her athletic body. She was happy about herself until she remembered that this was all for nothing. The smile faded away and all of a sudden she didn't really want to go anymore. She sat down on her bed until her mother came looking for her.

"Jane? You're still here?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because, I don't want to go anymore."

"But Jane, you look so good. Why have you suddenly changed your mind?"

"Because it's all for nothing." Jane said and sounded sad, like she was almost about to cry.

"What do you mean for nothing?"

"Maura's not gonna be there, and that's all I will be thinking about throughout the entire dance."

"Come on sweetheart. All you've been doing this past week is just mope around and miss Maura. Go, meet your friends, have fun for one night. Tomorrow you can mope about Maura again, even though I really wish you wouldn't."

Angela was right. She didn't want to spend the whole day in her room just moping around. She wanted to go out.

"You're right." Jane said and jumped up. "You're right, you're right, you're right! I'm going and that's it."

"That's the spirit Jane. You look gorgeous and I'm sure all the boys will be looking your way tonight." Jane lifted her eyebrows. "Not that you want that, but still."

"Yeah."

"I'll drive you to the dance."

"Thank you ma. But it's not that far away I can just walk and I'm sorry how much I've been moping around lately."

"It's okay sweetheart, I know how you're feeling."

Jane smiled and gave her mom a soft hug. She put on her coat and shoes. She didn't really have any nice shoes to wear, but she had black converse shoes that she decided to wear.

"You know, I have some amazing heels for you." Angela said excited.

"Don't push it." Jane answered and tied her shoelaces.

Angela walked Jane to the door and stood in the doorway until Jane was out of sight. She smiled proudly and felt happy about her little girl.

The weather was getting pretty cold, but it wasn't snowing. Jane pulled her coat tighter and put the hood over her head. She also walked fast and in the end she was almost running towards the school.

The dance had already started and she could hear the music all the way to the street. She started feeling a little nervous, but tonight, Jane was going to have fun and not think about Maura. She walked in proudly and blended in with the crowd. It took her a while to spot Steve but she found him talking to some junior girls.

"Hey Steve."

"Jane? Wow. You look amazing! And uhm, I thought you'd be staying home." Steve said confused.

"Yeah, but I changed my mind and decided to join you. Although I see you have found some new friends." Jane said and looked at the two girls Steve was talking to.

"These are Isobel and Christine." They both waved when Steve introduced them. "And this is my friend Jane Rizzoli." Steve said and introduced Jane who also waved awkwardly.

"Where is Casey?" Jane asked.

"He's coming too?"

"Yeah. I said I'd meet him here."

"Excuse me girls, I will find you on the dance floor in a while." Steve said flirtingly to the girls and pulled Jane away.

"I'm sorry to drag you away from your dates."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I'm not exactly interested."

"Then who are you interested in?"

"Her." Steve said dreamy and pointed at Emily.

"You're still into Emily?"

"Yes. But she won't talk to me."

"She's just playing. I know she still likes you Steve. Maybe you should try to talk to her tonight."

"Yeah, maybe." Steve looked around. "Hey there's Casey. Oh poor thing, standing there so awkward."

"Well let's go to him."

"Nah. Let him find us, this is a little funny."

"I would so kill you if you'd do that to me, come on. We're the youngest and most awkward people here, I would not want to be alone for more than five seconds." Jane insisted and pulled Steve to Casey.

"Oh hey guys. I was about to leave, I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Well let's dance or mingle or something." Steve said

"Yes. I came here to have fun and just forget about Maura. Let's dance."

The three of them danced to the music for a while until a slow song was put on and they all got extremely awkward. They all looked at the floor and then walked away into one corner

"That was a little awkward." Steve said.

"Yeah, but also pretty funny." Jane said. She wouldn't have mind dancing a slow dance with either of them but since they were three she couldn't just dance with one of them and leave the other one out.

Jane looked at all the people dancing slow dances and also the other awkward ones that didn't have anyone to dance with. Unfortunately she saw Emily dancing to an older boy and felt sorry for Steve and hoped he wouldn't see it.

"Oh man. See there's Emily, dancing with an older boy. I don't have a chance with her now." Steve said disappointed.

"Forget Emily man, she was rubbish. You can have any girl in school but you go after her?"

Casey was so right. Steve was definitely one of the hottest guys in school. He was also the nicest one, he was funny and had a great body. He was a catch and any girl would be lucky to have him.

"Well, I can't help it. I want her so badly." Steve said and stared at her.

"Go talk to her then. Tell her that. If she doesn't want you then, she's an idiot." Jane said and pushed Steve.

Steve walked to Emily while Casey and Jane stood in the corner and watched. They didn't really see much but Steve came practically running back with a smile on his face.

"Come on guys. There's a fast song on. We'll all dance together." Steve pulled them back onto the crowd and they started dancing.

Jane was surprisingly having a lot of fun and she was really enjoying herself. She didn't think about Maura at all until another slow song came up and the door opened with a bang. Everybody stopped to see the person who had walked into the school with such a bang.

The person standing in the doorway, looking as gorgeous as ever was none other than Maura Isles.


End file.
